Fragmented
by Cookies.Go.Rawr
Summary: When you lose what is most important to you, what are the choices that you would make? Not all endings are happy ones. Rated T for violence and death. Some strong language.
1. introductions

Western air temple

It was a beautiful morning in the western air temple; the sun had just begun to rise casting a calm orange glow on a young water bender.

"Kaiya" a female voice shouted.

"Over here mum" the young water bender called back, as she bended a stream of water, out of the fountain that was behind her.

"Kaiya, you know you're not supposed to be out here on your own"

"Sorry mum, but this place help's me meditate better, and helps me concentrate on my bending" Kaiya replied, freezing the water into a bench to sit on. At that moment Aang walked over, followed by a young boy. After the war had ended Aang and Katara had married and started a family. Katara looked at them both, with a warm smile, then walked over to Aang kissing him lightly on his lips, before turning to hug her youngest and only son Akira. Aang unfroze the water from under Kaiya, bending it into a stream around her, before pulling her to join the rest of them. He then bended the water back into the small fountain it had come from.

"So why is my favourite little girl out here where she shouldn't be, because this part of the temple isn't safe," aang asked Kaiya playfully,

"Because dad, it's a good place to Waterbend" she replied "And I'm not that little anymore either" she added.

"So you're to big to still give you're dad a hug then?" aang asked, holding out his arms. Kaiya shook her head and smiled, as she hugged her father,

"I'm never too big for that," she laughed, releasing her grip from her dad. Aang released his grip as well, before reaching to take Katara's hand.

"Come on kids, what do you say about a bit of breakfast and then afterwards doing a bit of training with me and your mother" Aang suggested. Normally kids would moan at the idea of training so early in the morning, but Kaiya and Akira loved being trained by their mother and father, because they made it fun, and didn't yell at them if they got it wrong.

"As long as we do it in a safer part of the temple" Katara said, as she looked at her daughter, who held up her hands as if to say 'fine by me'.

"I'll beat you to the kitchen dad" Akira challenged, sprinting off ahead of them,

"You wish" aang shouted back, sprinting after him. Katara and Kaiya watched them as they raced each other, laughing at them, as they made their way to the kitchen.

Fire nation palace

"Hey watch it; you're not supposed to kill me!"

"You should move out of the way more quickly then." Rozin walked over to his brother, who was lying flat on his back, after he was almost hit by one of Rozin's fireballs. Kuzon had managed to evade his attack just in the nick of time.

Rozin held out his hand to help his brother up. Kuzon took it then quickly threw his brother on the ground, before accurately throwing some daggers at him, pinning Rozin to the ground.

"And you should have seen that one coming" Kuzon said with a smirk.

"Cheater" was the only word Rozin replied.

"Now, now boys" Mai said as she came down the stairs that led to where Rozin and Kuzon were, waving her hand to some guards, motioning them to help Rozin up. The guards gave Kuzon his daggers back, after pulling them out of the floor, and Rozin's sleeves and boots, then bowed to the two young princes and returned to their posts.

"Awwww come on mum, I was just about to win," Kuzon sulked.

"Yes well, maybe you could win twice as easily with this." Mai held out an ornate wooden box in her hands, before placing it in her son's. Kuzon opened the box, and took out a pair of unicorn swords.

"For me?" Kuzon asked in disbelief, as mai nodded her head, "They were mine when I was your age" mai said.

"Wow thanks mum" Kuzon said as he hugged his mum tightly. Usually Kuzon followed in Mai's footsteps, and didn't care about a lot of things, unless weaponry was involved, on the other hand Rozin took after his father, Zuko. He was very strong willed and loved practicing his Firebending.

"Are you ready to be beaten again?" Kuzon asked getting into his fighting stance.

"Please Kuzon, you don't have a chance, not unless you cheat again that is," Rozin smirked, as he also took up his fighting stance.

Omashu

Toph and Haru were walking down one of the hallways in the palace. After aang had defeated fire lord Ozai (Who had suspiciously died in the prison he was sent to in the earth kingdom, about a year ago), Toph and Haru had been personally asked by king Bumi to come to Omashu he had wanted Haru to take the throne when he stepped down, and he had gladly accepted. They married 4 years after the war had ended, and later had two children, Tia- their 13 year old daughter and Zade- their 12 year old son.

"Where are the kid's?" Toph asked her husband, as she led the way into their garden, dragging Haru along with her.

"Last time I saw them, they were heading down to the city, with some of the guards, to do some shopping. Apparently Zade has seen something he likes, and he wanted Tia's opinion on it before he bought it" Haru replied, pulling Toph into his arms. "Which means, we get to be alone until they come back" he added, as he lifted her face up to his. Toph smiled before kissing Haru. It lasted all of five seconds, before they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Haru had to gently push Toph away, laughing at the face she made when he did.

"What can I do for you general" Haru asked, walking up to him, his arm around Toph's waist.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion you're highnesses, but the council need both of you're presence, to discuss the events that will take place, at the upcoming festival," The general answered, bowing before Haru and Toph.

"Will we ever get at least five minutes alone" Toph sulked,

"If you wish my lady, I could arrange the meeting to be held tomorrow" the general suggested

"No, its fine, it has to be done sooner or later, so why not get it over with now," she sighed before adding "Will you please inform our children, when they return of our whereabouts general"

"Of course" He replied, before bowing again and leaving. Toph groaned in annoyance, as she slumped on the ground, Haru laughed and sat next to her.

"Will we ever be alone?" she sighed, leaning against Haru's chest. Haru put his arm around her, before he kissed the top of her head. They sat like this for a while, content in each others company, something that didn't happen often, before Haru stood up and stretched.

"Suppose they'll be waiting for us" Toph sighed, as Haru helped her up

"Let's get this over with" she said as she made her way to the meeting chamber.

Kyoshi Island

Suki was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for her family. Sokka crept up behind her, catching her of guard as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist, locking her in his steely grasp. "Boo" he whispered in her ear. Suki snickered and then swiftly kissed her husband, before her kids came running in.

"Mum look what we got" Sana and Tao, Suki's youngest kids shouted together. They walked in dragging a rather tired looking Jade in behind them.

"What did I say about tying you're sister up!?" Suki said raising her voice at the two young children, whilst Sokka went to untie jade's wrists.

"Hey this is my good rope" Sokka muttered as he finished untying jade.

"What do you say to you're sister?"Suki asked them, "Sorry jade" they both said together "There, now I will tell you one more time, no more tying up you're sister or ..... I'll feed you both to the Unagi." Sana and Tao looked at their mother with pure fear in their eyes, "Ok mum" Sana said before quickly dragging her brother to the table and sitting down quietly.

"You ok hun?" Suki asked jade,

"I'm fine!" she replied "I'm going down to the beach." Jade stormed out of the house slamming the door behind her. "What's for breakfast, I'm starving" Sokka said, as he stretched his arms. Suki stood in the middle of the kitchen, her arms folded across her chest, a ladle in her right hand, as she stared at Sokka "What?" he asked confused. Suki didn't say anything, but nodded her head in the direction of the door, "Fine I'll go talk to her, but you better leave some of that for me, you hear that Tao?" he said looking at his son. Tao smiled innocently, before Sokka turned his head back to Suki "You're mum will tell me if it was you who ate my breakfast" Sokka joked "You bet I will" she replied "Now go, before I feed YOU to the unagi" Suki jittered, as she pushed her husband out the door.

Kyoshi beach

Jade was sat on a rock, overlooking the sandy white beach, and out into the crystal blue water, listening to the sound the waves made as they lapped at the sides of the rock she was sat on. She watched as the Unagi's giant fins surfaced from the water, before they disappeared again, creating a large splash that narrowly missed her. She sighed as she pushed herself off the rock, landing lightly on her feet. She took up a stance in front of the water, inhaling deeply as she moved her arms up and then to the side, as she created a long stream of water, bending and forming it, until she had finished the basic movements of Waterbending. She took another deep breath, and proceeded to create a large wave, before she heard a stick snap behind her. She turned the wave into a large ribbon of water, and shot it in the direction of the sound, freezing and holding whatever it was in its place, so it couldn't escape.

"Hey" a voice said "Jade, l-let me g-go it's f-freez-zing". Jade turned around to find her father trying to get free. "Oh, sorry dad, I thought you were someone or something else" Jade said apologetically, unfreezing the water, and gently letting Sokka down. Sokka stood up soaking wet, and went to stand next to jade, putting his arm around her shoulders, making her shiver.

"Hold still" Jade said. She bended the water out of her fathers clothes, and back into the ocean. "That's better, thanks" Sokka said. They stood in silence for a moment before Jade finally spoke. "Dad"

"Yeah, what's up?" he replied looking at his daughter quizzically,

"Why am I different, why am I the only bender in the family ... no wait let me rephrase that, the entire island" she said, her voice getting louder with every word.

"I guess its genetics" He replied, taking her hand, and leading her to the rock she had been sat on earlier, "I am from the southern water tribe, and you're aunt Katara is a Waterbender, I guess I carried the gene and passed it on to you" he explained.

"Oh" was her only reply, "I guess I should be happy, but I always feel like the odd one out, especially when Tao and Sana play their favourite game like they did this morning" she said sadly. Sokka looked at his daughters saddened expression, before he had an idea.

"I've got it!" he shouted jumping up from the rock, they were sat on,

"What?" Jade said shocked at her father's outburst, that had almost given her a heart attack,

"Were going on vacation," He said smiling at his daughter.


	2. The plan

Western air temple

Katara and aang stood and watched their children, their 13 year old daughter Kaiya, and their 12 year old son Akira. Katara watched as her daughter tried to copy the move she had just shown her – the water bullet. After her fourth failure she gave up, "It's no use" she said, slumping on the ground exhausted

"Here, follow my movements, I'll guide you through it" Katara said as she walked over to help her daughter up. They both stood in their stances, Kaiya paying intense attention as she watched her mother, and tried to copy her.

"Hey I think I got it," Kaiya exclaimed with joy. She got a bit over excited, making her loose her concentration and accidently sending the water straight into Akira's feet, knocking him over.

"Oops.... I guess I don't got it" she said, just loud enough for Katara to hear.

"OW!" Akira cried "You made me loose my concentration, I was just about to perfect a new move I've been working on," he snapped at his sister, as he got to his feet,

"Now settle down Akira, it was an accident, you've had you're fair share of them" Aang said to his son, as he put his hand on his shoulder, t prevent him from walking any closer to Kaiya then he already was.

"Come with me." Akira followed his father, glaring at his sister, until he caught his mother giving him her warning glare, and quickly turned away.

Aang and Akira

"Where are we" Akira asked his father, clearly he had never been there before, or even seen it, he didn't even no where he was to be perfectly honest,

"This is where I come to meditate, it's the perfect place for tranquillity, and for concentration" Aang replied

"Why are we up here" Akira asked again,

"Like I said, it's the perfect place for concentration, now show me the move you were about to show me, when we were with your mother and sister," Aang said as he took a seat on an old oak tree. Akira was more than pleased. Unlike his sister who had inherited a lot of her traits from their mother, like her dark hair, blue eyes, the ability to Waterbend, Akira was like his father, he had gray eyes, fair skin (Which Kaiya had also inherited), and the ability to Airbend, and much like his sister, he also had the same colour hair as Katara.

Akira inhaled deeply as he got into his stance, he then thrust his arms forward, sending two extremely powerful streams of air in front of him, he then jumped 20 feet in the air, bending two more streams from his feet. Without breaking his concentration he landed gracefully back n the ground, still bending the four streams of air. Then with all the power he could muster, he pushed the streams together and sent it flying into the Cliffside opposite them, creating a large hole in the face of the cliff. Akira listened to the sound that it had made, as it ricocheted of the cliffs, whilst he lowered his arms, and exhaled. He turned round to see his father smiling wildly at him.

"That was excellent son, I'm proud of you, maybe you don't need me to teach you anymore" aang said, as he walked to stand next to his son,

"Are you kidding me, I haven't perfected Airbending yet dad, you can always teach me new stuff" Akira replied, looking up to his father

"Well in that case, how about I show you a move that I made up when I was you're age, but it'll have to be tomorrow, you're mother is probably wondering where we got too" Aang said as he playfully ruffled his sons short hair. He grapped his staff that was lent against the oak tree, before leading Akira back to Katara.

City of Omashu

"TIA, ZADE!" Toph called from the balcony of Tia's room "GET YOU'RE BUT'S UP HERE RIGHT NOW!" Toph stood in the middle of Tia's bedroom, waiting for her Zade her 13 year old son, and Tia her 12 year old daughter to enter the room. Zade walked in slowly followed by Tia,

"Look mum I can explain ...." Zade started before he got cut off by Toph

"Well start talking, what the hell were you thinking ... both of you!" she said angrily

"Well the thing is, Tia and I were playing a game, she was pretending that she was you, the 'Bind Bandit', and I was the boulder, and we kind of had an Earthbending battle...." Zade trailed off

"We built you a training area outside, so you wouldn't make a mess like this." Toph said turning to sit on a chair that had been lodged in one of the walls. Tia then stepped forward, much like her mother she was a talented earth bender, she had vibrant green eyes, and black hair, that had been neatly tied back. Tia stood in the middle of the room, and evaluated the state her surroundings were in, before taking up her stance and Earthbending the room back to normal.

"Piece of cake" she said, standing from her stance, as she sarcastically brushed her hands together.

"You're father's coming" Toph said as she stood from her seat. Like Toph said Haru came through the door, just as Tia and Zade bowed. Haru returned the bow, and then walked up to Toph putting his arms round her waist, hugging her tightly.

"Sweetie .... Can't.... Breath." Haru let go, keeping one arm around her waist.

"I've just got a message from Sokka, he's planning a surprise to Aang and his family, in the western air temple, and wishes to know if we would join him" Haru stated, showing Zade and Tia the scroll since Toph couldn't read.

"Wow, can we go dad please" Zade said

"Yeah, we haven't seen them in ages" Tia added on excitedly

"Sure why not, I'm sure Bumi would step in to help you whilst your gone, plus we both need to get away for a bit and this is the perfect opportunity" Toph said, in her most persuasive tone that she knew Haru couldn't resist, and it worked like it always did,

"I suppose it couldn't hurt, and I'm sure Bumi will be more than willing, every time I see him he says how much he misses being king"

"Then its settled, go pack you're stuff kids" Toph said. Tia and Zade high fived each other, before Zade left for his room. Toph leant up to kiss Haru on the cheek, before she to left to go and pack.

Fire nation palace - Zuko's office

Zuko stood, looking out of his office window, and down into the garden below, where his sons were training with each other, like they did every other day. He quickly turned away when he heard a knock at his door,

"Come in" he shouted, so whoever it was could hear. The door creaked open; as one of Zuko's imperial guards came in, bearing a scroll on a silver platter. He walked up to Zuko before bowing and handing the scroll to him. Zuko bowed back to the guard, and dismissed him, before sitting down at his desk to read the scroll he had just received.

The Garden

Rozin had Kuzon pinned down, with a ball of fire next to his face in a second,

"That was way too easy" Rozin smirked as he got up from his brother, bushing himself off. He didn't bother to help his brother up, he wasn't stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.

"That's enough training for today boys; you've been at it for an hour now," Mai said

"Awwww, come on mum, I haven't even had the chance to try out my new weapons, I've spent most of my time on the floor" Kuzon sulked

"Well I'm sure if I persuaded you're mother enough, then she'll let you spar a little while longer," Zuko said as he approached his wife and kids. Mai got up from where she was sitting, and went to kiss her husband. Rozin and Kuzon bowed to their father, before running and giving him a hug.

"I see you've both been practicing hard," Zuko said to his sons, as he pulled away from their embrace, but keeping his arm around mai's slender waist.

"So, what's up," mai asked her husband, turning her face up to his.

"Well, I've just received a letter from Sokka, and he's planning a surprise visit to aang and his family, he wants' to know if we would go," Zuko replied

"What about the fire nation, you can't just abandon it, you're the firelord," Mai pointed out

"I have volunteered to step in, my nephew needs a break" Iroh said as he came down the stairs "Besides, I know this country like the back of my hand" He added chuckling.

"Yeah, and I bet Rozin wouldn't pass up the chance of seeing Kaiya again" Kuzon snickered

"Shut up" Rozin said through gritted teeth, as he kicked his brother in the shin,

"Hey, cut it out" Mai scolded, as she lightly smacked them both round the back of the head.

"Whatever" Kuzon replied as he flipped his hair back, to stop it from falling into his face,

"Then its settled, we'll depart tomorrow morning, I'll send a messenger hawk to Sokka, telling him we'll pick him up and Haru's family, on the way."

Zuko and Mai walked back inside the palace, behind Iroh, a couple of guards following behind them. As soon as Zuko and Mai were out of sight, Rozin turned and shot a fireball at Kuzon, narrowly missing his head,

"What was that for?!" Kuzon asked bewildered. Rozin didn't reply, he only smirked, before turning his back to Kuzon, and heading off to his room to pack his things, leaving Kuzon stood in the garden, looking confused and a little shocked.


	3. Journey

Western air temple

Aang awoke later then he usually did, to find that his family were already awake. He got up washed his face, got changed, and looked out of his bedroom window, to see Kaiya and Akira sparring with each other, that was until Katara called them in for breakfast. He watched his kids as they raced each other to the kitchen, before he jumped out of his window, landing softly on his feet (it was a much quicker way then taking the stairs). After the war had ended, Aang and Katara had, had plenty of time to refurbish the temple, and bring it back to its former gory.

"I saw that aang," Katara said as she poked her head round the kitchen door "You're going to have Akira doing that one day, and I don't want him to" she scolded him as he walked through the door, and took a seat at the low table, in the centre of the room.

"Dad!" both his kids shouted, jumping on him and knocking him backwards with the force.

"Good morning to you as well" Aang laughed as he got up. He then caught Katara trying to stifle a giggle of her own, as she watched them.

"You think that's funny do you?" Aang asked as he stood up, turning to wink at his kids. He playfully leaped towards Katara, knocking her backwards, but keeping tight hold of her so she didn't hit the floor. She put her arms around his neck,

"Yes, I did" She said before kissing him, forgetting everything that was around her, as she melted into Aang's embrace in complete content. They were interrupted by Akira, pretending to throw up. Kaiya was looking at them like any 13 year old girl would, when they saw true love.

"You'll be doing it one day" Katara told him, as aang stood her up.

"I hope not" Akira said back, taking a huge mouthful of his breakfast, chewing it noisily. Katara just smiled at him shaking her head, before turning round to finish making Aang's breakfast. 'You will' she mouthed.

After she had prepared breakfast for herself and Aang, she joined her family at the table.

"So what's the plan for today?" Kaiya asked quizzically, but paying more attention to bending her tea until it was cool enough to drink.

"Well , I was going to take Appa to the nearest town, we need more supplies" Katara said, looking to aang,

"Fine by me, I was going to teach Akira a new move," Aang replied, taking a sip of his tea, grinning at his son.

"Yay, shopping" Kaiya squealed with glee, clearly she had inherited her uncle Sokka's love for shopping.

"Please can I come mum, please, please, please," Kaiya pleaded to her mother, unleashing the full effect of her puppy dig eyes,

"Of course, I'll need help carrying the supplies back anyway," She replied smiling at her daughter, watching her as a huge grin spread across her face, before she hugged her tightly.

After breakfast Akira and Kaiya helped their mother clean the table, and wash up, Kaiya using her Waterbending to wash, and Akira using his Airbending to dry. They then went out to meet their father, who was getting Appa ready before they departed.

"All set" Aang said as he helped her daughter into the saddle.

"We'll be back in about two hours," Katara shouted down to her husband. Aang just nodded his head.

"Yip Yip!" Katara said to Appa, who groaned before soaring up into the sky. Aang and Akira waved them goodbye until they could no longer see them. After they had disappeared Aang sighed heavily, still looking up into the sky. He hated being away from Katara and Kaiya for any period of time. Akira stared into the sky as well, before turning to his father, who was deeply in thought.

"Daaaad" Akira said trying to get his attention, pulling on his robes. He finally managed to break Aang out of his reverie, bringing him back to earth. Aang blinked, then turned to smile at his son,

"So, are you ready to learn the move?" He asked Akira. Akira sat cross legged on the floor in front of his father, watching him expectantly

"Positive!" he replied.

Zuko's balloon

"So, what time do we get there?" Sokka asked Zuko, taking a bite out of some seal jerky he had, watching Zuko Firebend some more heat into the furnace.

"Do you ever stop eating?" Zuko replied, shutting the furnace door

"Hey, what can I say I love food, and why don't you let one of your guards or someone do that?"

"Because, it's nice to just do stuff for myself once in a while, instead of being taken care of twenty four seven" Zuko said as he took a seat next to Sokka, eyeing his seal jerky

"Mind if I have some?" He asked Sokka.

"Yeah sure" he said, passing him a couple of pieces, "So about my question earlier, what time do you think we'll get there?" Sokka asked again.

"A couple more hours, maybe less" He replied, taking another bite from his jerky "This is good!" Zuko exclaimed. Sokka just nodded his head. Toph then came in, dragging her son in behind her, by the wrist,

"Mum, stop please, you're hurting me!" Zade complained, as he tried to pry his mothers hand from his wrist. Toph let go as soon as she stood Zade in front of Zuko.

"Well, are you going to tell him, or am I?" Toph asked her son, as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Tell me what Zade" Zuko asked intrigued, as he stood up, but from the way Toph was acting he could tell that it wouldn't be good.

"Well," Zade began "I was sort of looking around the ship, and I came across these swords......" he trailed off looking to his mother, who nodded her head for him to carry on.

"I was playing with them and......" He trailed off again, not wanting to say anymore, looking down at his feet.

"He broke them!" Toph finished his sentence for him, as she got impatient.

"And which swords were these?" Zuko asked. Zade just shook his head still looking down at his feet.

"You're old broad swords" Toph answered

"I swear I didn't know, I'm so, so sorry firelord Zuko, I really didn't mean to" Zade frantically tried to defend himself. Zuko placed a hand on Zade's shoulder,

"Apology accepted, boys will be boys" He sighed turning to Toph, as she started to speak,

"Don't think you're out of trouble mister, you still have to tell you're father, and then you're grounded" She said, as she smacked his backside lightly, as he bowed to Zuko, before leaving the room. Toph sighed,

"You should see what he get's up to in Omashu, such a little trouble maker"

"He sort of reminds me of you when you were his age, getting into all sorts of trouble," Sokka said, before receiving, a hard punch in the arm from Toph

"I guess you're right ... Boomerang Boy" Toph laughed, as the others joined in.

Kuzon and Jade – Balloons Training Centre

Kuzon had been watching Jade Waterbend for about 15 minutes fascinated at how she moved the water with such grace. She hadn't realised that he was watching her, until he walked out from the shadows he had been stood in, and greeted her.

"Hi" He said, as she bended the water over her head. Jade lost her concentration, letting the water come crashing down over her head,

completely soaking her from head to toe. She turned around to see who had interrupted her,

"Hey Kuzon, do you want to train" she asked, bending the water out of her clothes and hair, and back into her pouches, thinking that, that was the only reason he had disturbed her.

"No actually, I was wondering if you wanted to spar with me" He replied, taking out a couple of his shurikens.

"Sure, just a minute" Jade said, as she ran out of the room. She came back about five minutes later, with two golden fans tucked into her belt.

"What are those for" he asked intently, nodding to her fans

"Well, you said you wanted to spar, and I train with my mother as a Kyoshi warrior, so I thought I might make it a bit fairer" she replied nonchalantly.

"Cut me some slack, I have a Firebender as a brother, so how about you use you're water bending, and those, and see if you can still beat me," Kuzon said cockily, as he took up his battle stance. Jade shrugged, and got into her stance.

Kuzon was the first to attack, throwing darts, shurikens, and daggers at her, trying to pin her down. Jade looked like she was dancing, gracefully dodging everything Kuzon threw at her, then it was her turn. She pulled both her fans out of her belt, and threw them at Kuzon, who managed to narrowly dodge them, but loosing his balance. Jade took advantage of this, bending the water from her pouches, so it came at him from all directions. She froze the water pinning him against one of the walls, before relaxing out of her stance.

"Well that was fun" she smirked. Kuzon was astounded and utterly amazed at what she could do (even though he wouldn't show it). He didn't think that she would be so good at Waterbending; she was the only one that lived on Kyoshi Island.

"Truce" He shivered. Jade raised her eyebrow, before she proceeded to unfreeze the water, bending it back into her pouches. She walked over to where her fans were, and neatly tucked them back into her belt, before turning to see Kuzon staring at her, his golden eyes watching her intently, before they met her dark blue ones, and he quickly looked away, as Jade blushed.

"We should be arriving soon" Kuzon said, to break the awkward silence, "I should go and change," he added as he looked down at his sodden clothes. Jade suppressed a giggle as Kuzon walked past her, and out of the room, water squelching noisily in his boots.


	4. Reunion

Western air temple – courtyard

Katara and Kaiya landed Appa in the courtyard two hours after they had set off, just like Katara had said. As soon as Appa was safely on the ground, Aang leaped onto Appa's head where Katara was, with great ease, picked her up in his arms and kissed her passionately, until she had to pull away for air.

"I missed you," Aang whispered to his wife, when she turned her head to look up at him.

"It's not been that long Aang ... but I missed you to," She replied, before leaning up to kiss him again. When they had finished, Aang turned round to see Kaiya dangling off the edge of Appa's saddle in an attempt to get down. She looked below her to make sure that she had a clear landing space, and then unwrapped her hands from the edge of the saddle, and landed gracefully on the ground with a light thud. Momo then flew through the kitchen door, and landed on her shoulder licking her face, his way of saying 'Welcome home'.

Aang smiled down at his daughter, and then looked at his son as he walked out the kitchen smirking, obviously at Momo and Kaiya. He then helped Katara down, and then unloaded the supply's from inside Appa's saddle, and carried them in to the kitchen where he helped put them away, using his bending when necessary.

*Mum, mum, come and watch the new move dad taught me!" Akira pleaded, desperately pulling on his mothers robes in an attempt to drag her out into the courtyard, after everything had been unpacked. Katara smiled and sighed, and then followed her ecstatic son outside. She took at seat on the small fountain located in the very middle of the courtyard, freezing the water momentarily so that they didn't get wet from the splashes of water. Aang held out his hand, signalling that Kaiya should go ahead of him, but instead she grabbed her father's hand, so that they could walk together. They joined Katara on the edge of the fountain; Kaiya nestled in Aang's lap, who had his arm around Katara's waist as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Akira waited until everyone was paying attention, and then proceeded to get into his stance. He spun his arms around, creating a large ball of air, which he then jumped on top of, balancing on it with one foot, the other foot resting across his leg, and his arms folded across his chest. He finished off his move by jumping off the ball, doing a back flip in the air and landing in a bow just to show off. He rose to the applauds of his family.

"That didn't take you long at all to master did it?" Aang said to Akira who was walking to join them. Akira just shook his head proudly, as he confirmed what Aang had said.

"He's just like you when you were 12 then," Katara said to Aang, prodding him in his ribs.

"That's a little different considering I am the Avatar," Aang chuckled.

"I'm hungry," Kaiya interrupted as she stood from her father's lap,

"Is anyone else?" She asked. Akira nodded and followed his sister back into the kitchen. Katara and Aang stood up, Katara pushing her hand down, melting the water in the fountain and letting it flow fluidly again, before she followed their kids to prepare some food.

Kitchen

Aang, Katara, Akira and Kaiya were sitting at the low table in the middle of the kitchen. Katara had made some Jasmine tea, and Aang was teaching the kids some new tactics in Pai-sho. The whole kitchen suddenly shook, and there was a loud rumble from outside. Aang stood up and grabbed his staff, from where it leant against the wall, making sure his family were safe before he walked out into the courtyard, staff at the ready.

"Twinkle toes!" was the first thing he heard before he was knocked aback by Toph who had run to hug him tightly. Zuko, Sokka and Haru followed Toph off the ship with the rest of their families, although they weren't as enthusiastic as Toph. Katara, Akira and Kaiya came out of the kitchen to see what was going on. As soon as they knew they went to meet everyone, Kaiya and Akira running ahead of their mother.

"Sokka!" Katara cried, running over to her brother, and hugging him tightly,

"What a lovely surprise," She added as Sokka returned the hug. They hadn't seen each other in six long months.

"What bought this on?" She asked surprised, not once been expecting this,

"Well we all needed a break, so we thought we'd come up here and just you know, chill," He replied. Katara just laughed and gave her brother another hug. After Katara and Aang greeted the rest of them, before leading them into the lounge to make them more comfortable.

"Kids, dinner in an hour!" Katara shouted back to them, before she went inside.

Kids the courtyard

After all the kids had sais their 'Hi's' and 'How are you's' and after all the hugging, the kids found themselves sat around a fire, which Rozin had created after they had collected some wood, chatting about what they had been up to. Most of the conversation revolved around Akira and Kaiya, since the others had, had a chance to catch up whilst they had been on board the balloon.

"So how's your Water bending coming on Jade?" Kaiya asked her cousin.

"I'm not entirely sure" She replied honestly,

"I was sort of hoping that I could practice with you and your mum, so then you could tell me and so that I could get better at it," She added a bit embarrassed.

"Sure, I was gonna practice with my mum tomorrow morning so you can come and join."

"That would be great!" Jade replied cheerfully,

"You don't know how much it means to finally be able to practice with another bender," She laughed.

Rozin was sat across the small fire from Kaiya, and was unaware that he was staring at her, until she looked over at him, her sapphire blue eyes locking on to his liquid gold ones. They held each other's gaze for a moment wondering what the other one could be thinking, before Kaiya's cheeks tinted pink and she looked away, deciding to strike up a conversation with Tia, to break the awkwardness of the situation. Rozin turned his gaze to his feet frowning slightly, a little annoyed that she had looked away, and mentally kicking himself for not coming up with a topic of conversation so that he could talk to her.

"So Tia ... How are things going in Omashu?" She asked, absentmindedly poking at the fire with a stick she had just found, watching the cinders float up into the air as she disturbed the flames.

"OK I guess, it's not much fun when you can't get to see your friends, or can't get out of the palace to make new ones," she answered truthfully, looking to Kuzon when she said this, who was fiddling with one of his wrist holders he used to keep his darts in, then flushing a deep red clearly embarrassed when he caught her looking at him.

"KIDS!" Katara's voice shouted from the kitchen, along with a clatter of bowls and pans as they came into contact with the earth floor.

"Looks like dinners ready," Akira said nodding to his sister. Kaiya stood up and bended a small stream of water from the fountain to snuff out the fire, they then headed into the kitchen to grab some food. Rozin making sure he got a seat next to Kaiya, whilst also getting a smirk from Kuzon as he mouthed the word, 'Loser'. Rozin scowled and deliberately stuck his leg out as Kuzon walked past him to take his seat. Kuzon toppled forwards and landed on the lap of a bewildered Tia. He immediately got up his face crimson, and then sat as far away from her as he could. Rozin couldn't help but laugh at him, leaving the others a little confused.

"So, what's on the menu Auntie Katara?" Tao asked, as he picked up his chopsticks, getting ready to eat.

"You really are Sokka's son," She sighed to herself, remembering how much Tao resembled Sokka at a young age.

"We have stewed turtle shark, or spiced soup," She answered as she placed each one on the table, along with some bowls. The kids laughed and joked with each other while they ate, complimenting Katara every now and then on her exquisite cooking. Afterwards they joined their parents in the living room for some ginseng tea, watching Haru get his ass kicked by Aang as they played four games of Pai-sho, Haru loosing each one.

Later that evening Kaiya and Akira escorted their friends to their assigned chambers – whilst their mother and father finished clearing up – and bid them goodnight.

The next morning Rozin awoke with the sun, as did his father. Rozin got up careful not to wake his brother, who was sprawled across his bed, mouth wide open, snoring lightly, washed his face, got dressed and went outside. He sat in front of the fountain in the courtyard meditating, just like he did every other morning, before he stood and went through the basic forms of Fire bending. He was later joined by Kaiya who was always the first one in her family to get up. He decided to finish by doing a couple of advanced Fire bending movements just to show off a little bit. Once he had finished Kaiya led him into the kitchen to make some tea.

Rozin sat at the table and wiped his brow with the back of his sleeve, watching Kaiya as she gracefully moved around the kitchen until she finally came to sit opposite him.

"Tea?" She asked, holding the tea pot in front of her.

"Yes please," He answered. He had to admit he was parched from his Fire bending, and was desperate for a drink. Kaiya bended the tea into two cups, handing one to Rozin.

"Mmmmmm Jasmine my favourite," Rozin said before taking a sip, and managing to burn his tongue.

"Careful it's hot," Kaiya informed him a little bit too late, laughing at the expression on Rozin's face.

They sat in silence for a moment, waiting for their tea to cool down before they could drink it.

"You're really good you know," Kaiya said, to break the silence. Rozin looked at her questioningly.

"At what?" He asked her confused.

"At Fire bending."

"Oh ... um thanks." He replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, slightly embarrassed at having missed the obvious.

"So when do you guys have to leave?" Kaiya asked after another long pause of silence.

"Soon I think," He replied, cautiously taking a sip of his tea, to see if it was drinkable or not yet.

"I wish we could spend longer together, so we'd have more time to catch up, I hardly ever get to see you guys," Kaiya said sadly, as she bended her tea into different shapes allowing it to cool off a little more, before popping it into her mouth.

Rozin watched as Kaiya's expression fell, he hated to see her upset, since he had, had a crush on her for a while,

"Well maybe you could come back with us and spend some time in the Fire Nation, since you've never been there before," Rozin suggested softly, keeping his eyes on Kaiya's face as he said it.

"Wow, are you serious, that would be amazing, I'd love to!" Kaiya exclaimed, clapping her hands together with joy. Rozin couldn't help but smile at her reaction; she smiled back blushing slightly, Rozin smiled even more at this locking his golden eyes onto her ocean blue ones. Kaiya collected herself after a moment and tore her gaze away from his,

"Erm ... more tea?" She asked,

"Oh ... Um yes please," Rozin replied, handing her his cup. She bended some more tea into both cups just as Zuko appeared in the doorway, a slight sheen of sweat covering his face and arms.

"I'll take some of that please" He said, smiling warmly at Kaiya. She smiled back, before getting up to get Zuko a cup and filling it with tea, whilst he took a seat. She handed Zuko his tea before returning to her own seat.

"Dad ... Would it be alright if Kaiya came back with us and stayed with us in the palace?" Rozin asked his father. Zuko looked at his son, who hadn't taken his eyes of Kaiya whilst he'd spoken; he then looked to Kaiya as she blushed again, and looked down at her hands. Zuko smiled to himself before he replied to his son.

"I don't see why not, just as long as it's okay with her parents"

"Okay with what?" Aang asked as he walked into the kitchen, hand in hand with Katara. They both looked at Zuko.

"Rozin was wondering if Kaiya would like to accompany us back to the Fire Nation, and spend some time there," Zuko replied smiling at his son.

"We were wondering if that was alright with you," He added taking a sip of his tea. Katara and Aang looked at their 13 year old daughter who sat nervously twiddling her thumbs. Aang went to sit by Kaiya and pulled her into his lap.

"My little girl is growing up," He said softly as he kissed the top of her head.

"Is that a yes?" Kaiya asked quietly, looking up at him. Aang turned to look at his wife for confirmation.

"I guess its okay," Katara reluctantly said. Kaiya all but crawled out of hers fathers lap, throwing herself to her mother and hugging her tightly.

"Thank you sooooooo much!" She giggled with delight,

"Don't worry she'll be in safe hands," Zuko said to Aang and Katara.

"I trust that she will, you are the Firelord after all," He laughed.

"Kaiya why don't you go and get Jade, I heard that she wanted to practice Water bending with us," Katara said as she poured herself an Aang some of the tea that Kaiya had made. Kaiya nodded and bowed, before happily skipping out of the kitchen door to locate her cousin. All eyes fell on the 14 year old prince as he fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Would you like to accompany us Rozin? I'm sure my daughter would be more then pleased to see you there," Katara asked him. Rozin blushed slightly.

"I ... erm ..."

"He'd love to," Mai said as she walked through the door, Kuzon following her whilst pulling sappy faces at Rozin, who scowled menacingly at him in return.

Training area

"Wow, where did you learn that?!" Kaiya asked Jade her mouth slightly agape.

"Nowhere, I taught it to myself," Jade said shrugging her shoulders,

"Oh yeah sorry, I forgot," Kaiya said apologetically.

"Nah its fine, you get used to being the only bender after a while," Jade replied, as she bended a stream of water around Kaiya, and then back into one of her pouches. Kaiya walked up to Jade and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'll teach you a move Kaiya hasn't even learnt yet ... Kaiya do you want to sit this one out?" Katara asked her daughter.

"You got to be kidding me, no way" She answered with a grin on her face.

Kaiya and Jade joined Rozin to watch Katara demonstrate the move. They watched in utter amazement as Katara pulled water from the air around her, before sending it at one of the rock dummies Aang had made for his kids to train with, and slicing it in half.

"That was amazing!" Jade and Kaiya squealed together,

"Do you want to practice it?" Katara asked. Both girls nodded their heads, getting up quickly with excitement to join Katara.

Kaiya was the first to master the technique, getting it after her first two attempts; Jade on the other hand didn't.

"Jade do you need some help?" Katara asked as she watched Jade's sixth failure.

"Would you be able to go through the steps again please Aunt Katara?" Jade panted with exhaustion.

"Of course I will," Katara replied smiling at her, before proceeding to go through the steps again. After about three more tries Jade finally got it, and was overwhelmed with satisfaction.

"Whooo, go Jade!" Kaiya shouted from where she was sat, at Jade's success. Katara laughed at her daughter's enthusiasm before congratulating Jade.

"Well done Jade, anyway that's enough practice for today, you've both done extremely well, so why don't you two go and get cleaned up and I'll meet you both in the kitchen so I can fix you up something to eat." Katara ordered. Kaiya and Rozin held each other's gaze for a moment, before Kaiya got dragged off with Jade.

"You like her a lot, don't you?" Katara asked Rozin, as soon as the girls were out of hearing range, and they were the only two left. He looked up to Katara and nodded, embarrassed that he had just admitted his feelings for Kaiya to her mother.

"She likes you to; I can see it in her eyes when she looks at you." Rozin smiled when Katara said this.

"If I ever find out that you have done anything to hurt my daughter in any way or means possible, you will have me to answer to, and trust ma it will not be pretty," Katara's voice had turned deadly serious, as she turned to face Rozin, her usual liquid blue eyes were now like solid pieces of blue rock, as they bored into Rozin's. Rozin gulped intimidated from the woman stood leaning over him.

"I would never ever dream of hurting her lady Katara, she is the best thing that has happened to me, and I wouldn't trade her for the world," Rozin replied truthfully, his voice slightly shaking. Katara evaluated him for a moment, seeing nothing but truth in his eyes, before she gave a small smile, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You make a perfect couple," She said rather reluctantly, before leaving to go and clean herself up.

Courtyard

"Are you positive you have everything you need?" Katara asked her daughter,

"I'm sure mum," She replied, giving her a hug.

"Wait!" Aang called, as he walked up to them with Momo sat on his arm.

"I want you to take him with you," He said as he placed Momo on Kaiya's arm.

"Wow, thanks dad," She said hugging her father. Usually Aang wouldn't let Momo out of his site, unless he accompanied Katara on her trips to the market. Before she departed, she gave her mother and father one last hug, and rubbed noses with her younger brother.

"Be good for mum and dad, and I won't forget to bring you back a present,"

"I'm gonna miss u Kaiya" Akira said hugging her tightly,

"Me too" She replied. This was the first time Kaiya had ever been away from her family, the first time she had gone anywhere without them.

After she had boarded the balloon, she waved to her family until she could no longer see them.


	5. The Beginning First Strike

Fire nation palace

"Wow Momo this place is amazing," Kaiya said as she looked up at the palace, whilst stroking Momo's head. They had to wait until the guards came bearing five palenkeys. Members of the public had gathered round to see the royal family. Kaiya watched as each member of Zuko's family waved to the growing audience before the each got into one. Kaiya hesitated to get into hers. She wasn't used to this kind of attention. Rozin poked his head out of his, to see what the hold up was, before he saw Kaiya hesitating outside of her palenkey. Kaiya looked around again until her eyes finally spotted Rozin, as he stepped out from his palenkey to the screams of many girls. Kaiya grimaced at this but ignored it. She obviously wasn't the only one that found Rozin attractive.

"What's wrong Kaiya?" He asked as he approached her,

"Just a little nervous that's all, I'm not really used to all of this," She said looking at her ride, glancing quickly to the audience who all had their attention on the young piar, then back to him. She noted that the girls looking at Rozin looked at him adoringly and the girls looking at her looked at her with pure jelousy. She also noted this with the boys, they looked at her the way the girls looked at Rozin, and they looked at Rozin the way the girls looked at her.

"Why don't you ride with me then?" He asked,

"Are you sure, I mean I can go in this one" She replied, looking nervously back to the one beside her,

"Positive" He answered.

Rozin waved his hand to the guards that held Kaiya's palenkey, telling them that it was no longer needed, the guards bowed and hurried it back to the palace. Kaiya laughed. Rozin then took Kaiya by the hand, and lead her to his palenkey, helping her get in, waving once more to the cheering crowd.

Inside it was covered in lush silk fabrics, and cushions soft to the touch to sit down on. There was more than enough space for two people, and a flying lemur.

As soon as they got to the palace, and the palenkeys touched down on the ground, Kaiya immediately ran out of the one she had been sharing with Rozin, her hand covering her mouth. She ran up to some of the nearest bushes and threw up behind them. Their journey to the palace hadn't been that long, but the bumpy ride and motion, had been enough to make Kaiya feel sick. She breathed in the fresh air to help clear her queasiness, which it helped a lot.

As she began to feel better, she turned around to meet the anxious stares of Zuko, Mai, and especially rozin. Kuzon wasn't as anxious as the other's, but he still looked at her concerned. Kaiya blushed a deep red.

"Sorry about that" she said sheepishly, as she walked back over to where they were,

"Nonsense Kaiya are you alright?" Mai asked. Kaiya was taken aback, she didn't really speak to mai that often, but she knew that she was gloomy, although after her kids had been born, she'd begun to care about a lot more things.

"I'm a lot better now, I guess palenkeys aren't my type of thing, I prefer to fly on giant furry bison's" she laughed, proving her point. Kuzon sighed, clearly bored, with the topic of conversation, (now that he knew Kaiya was alright), and started making his way into the palace.

Dining hall

Zuko and Mai sat together at the head of the table, like they usually did, Rozin sat opposite Kaiya, who was sat next to Kuzon.

"Kuzon would you stop messing with you're food" Zuko said, as he swallowed a mouthful of his komodo chicken soup.

"Would you like to hear a story Kaiya?" Mai asked after a moment of silence,

"I'd love to" Kaiya replied enthusiastically

"Why don't you tell her about the time you had to rescue dad from that prison, you're uncle worked at?" Rozin offered, looking to his parents.

Mai and Zuko told Kaiya the story of the boiling rock, and how Azula had locked Mai up in there,

"But how did you escape?" Kaiya asked Mai intently, intrigued by the story she had never heard before,

"Like Rozin said before, at the time my uncle worked there, and managed to pull a few strings for mine, and Tylee's release. He gave Zuko a rough time though when he was there," Mai said as she looked at her husband,

"Yeah" Zuko laughed, as he looked back on the memory.

By this time everyone had finished their main course, and were just finishing up on their desserts.

"That was delicious, it's nice to have a change from traditional water tribe, or air nation food, sometimes my mum mixes and matches, but it's hard when you're father is a vegetarian," Kaiya said, as she dapped at her mouth with her napkin.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Zuko replied, as he stood up to greet one of his servants. They exchanged bows before, his servant spoke.

"Firelord, your lounge has been prepared with hot tea and cakes, if you wish to retire,"

"Thank you" Zuko said, after he had dismissed his servant.

"Shall we?" Zuko asked as he held his hand out to help Mai up, before leading the way to the lounge.

Kyoshi Island

Suki had prepared breakfast for her 10 year old son Tao, and her 11 year old daughter Sana. Her eldest daughter Jade, who was 13, had already eaten before her younger siblings had come to join them.

"Where's daddy?" Tao asked, rubbing his eyes then stretching, after just waking up,

"He's just popped out sweetie, he should be back in a minute though," She answered him, scooping him up into her arms, and rubbing her nose against his. Toa giggled hugging his mother, before reaching to his plate of whale blubber omelette, that Suki had made him.

"Hey mum, can I show you what aunt Katara taught me, after breakfast?" Jade asked

"Sure, then would you like to practice, with me Sana and the other Kyoshi warriors?" she asked in return, but before Jade could reply Sokka walked through the door and answered for her,

"I'm afraid Jade will be too busy to train with you today," he said, winking at Suki,

"But why not?" Jade asked confused

"Because you shall be training with me" a voice said, as a man with white hair and blue robes on, walked in behind Sokka.

"Jade this is Master Chen, he's here to teach you Waterbending," Sokka said smugly,

"Good morning Jade" Chen said, as he bowed in greeting to her. Jade just looked at him, shocked, ecstatic, but most of all speechless.

"But how ... when ... I ..." Jade stammered, not quite managing to get her words out,

"You're mother and I, saw how happy you were when you trained with, Katara and Kaiya, so we sent a messenger hawk to the Northern water tribe, and Master Chen was more than happy to accept.

"To be honest, I've wanted to move somewhere hotter, but I didn't know where, and then this perfect opportunity came up, where I can teach what I love doing to someone else," Chen replied.

"This is fantastic, I love you guys so much!" Jade squealed, jumping out of her seat to give her parents a bear hug,

"So, when do we start?" Jade asked excitedly.

Fire Nation

The next day Zuko and Mai had given Rozin and Kuzon permission to take Kaiya on a tour of the city. It was more Rozin and Kaiya, Kuzon just tagged along so that he wasn't stuck in the palace bored out of his mind, four guards trailing along behind them. Outside the palace gates they were met with the screams of people yet again, guards keeping them at a distance from the three of them, whilst others cleared a path for them. They had decided to walk since Kaiya didn't want another palenkey tragedy.

The streets of the city were bustling with people, but it didn't bother any of them, they were used to it.

"Hey Roz, I'll see you in a bit, I'm gonna go and collect my Katana I ordered a couple of weeks back from the weapons dealer," Kuzon stated once they had walked into the middle of the city.

"Meet us back at the palace," Was all Rozin could say before Kuzon turned his back, waved his hand, and walked off in the direction of a large shop with one of the guards. Kaiya looked after him and then turned to Rozin who had been doing the same,

"Do you have any errands that you need to run?" She asked him drawing his attention to her. He shook his head smiling.

"Is there anywhere in particular you would like to go?" He questioned. Kaiya thought for a moment, then a stall selling Water tribe things caught her eye and she pointed to it. Rozin laughed when he saw what she was pointing to, and then followed behind Kaiya. He stood with her for a while looking at the different variety of things it had to offer, surprised that he hadn't noticed it before.

"Kaiya, I'll be back in a minute will you be alright?" He asked her. Kaiya turned and faced him, giving him a look which answered his question. He smiled again as she turned back round admiring some fur pouches, used to hold water in. Two of the guards had gone off with Rozin, and the one that had been with Kaiya had gone to break up a fight he had seen a couple of stalls away, leaving Kaiya on her own.

"So, is it true that you're the Avatar's daughter?" A voice sounded behind her. Kaiya turned round to face two boys who looked about 17.

"Erm ... yes," She answered as politely as she could, looking around for the guard who was no longer with her. One of them whispered something in the others ear making him smirk, in a way that Kaiya didn't like.

"I er ... really must be going now," Kaiya told them, turning round to the stall and placing the pouches back down, before smiling at the owner, who was eyeing the two boys suspiciously. She turned back round and started to walk away, only to be stopped by one of the boys as he stood in front of her. She turned round the other way to face the other boy who had spoken to her.

Kaiya turned again and tried to walk in a different direction to the two boys, but the one that had spoken grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her into him. She felt one of his arms wrap tightly around her arms and waist, making it impossible to escape, and his other hand trace over her cheek bone then cover her mouth so she couldn't scream. Kaiya struggled to get free from his steely grasp as he led her away.

"Hey come on now, don't be like that, we haven't gotten to know each other yet," He purred in her ear in such a way that it made Kaiya feel sick to her stomach. This was not what she had, had in mind of a tour of the city.

"She's beautiful this one," The other lad said as he followed behind them,

"Sure is, the rumors about her are definitely true," The one holding Kaiya called back,

"She'll fetch a hefty price on the slave market!" He added laughing, the other joining in.

Kaiya struggled even more, making it difficult for the boy holding her to carry on walking, he tightened his grip hurting Kaiya so much that she stopped struggling for the moment giving him enough time to lead her into a small ally way.

"Hey you got that rope with you, she,s getting to feisty," He asked the other lad who nodded and unclipped it from the back of his belt. They bound her hands by her sides, and then placed a red cloak with a hood over her so it wasn't obvious. It took them a while since Kaiya was struggling with them, but the two boys were stronger than her, their bodies well built, so her weak efforts were pointless.

"Let me go!" She seethed twisting in the boys arms, tears beginning to well in her eyes, even though she was trying to be brave.

"My father will find out, and when he does you two will be sorry!" She added, breaking down into tears. She found it pointless to scream since no one would have been able to hear her from where she was.

"I don't think so, by the time he finds out you won't be here anymore," The one holding her purred in her ear again, as he stroked the side of her face.

"Some of us have to make a living, and the profit we will get from selling you, especially with your background, will be enough to put food on our table for a couple of months," The one who had, had the rope said. The other nodded in agreement then placed his hand back over Kaiya's mouth, tightly gripping her face in his hand so that she couldn't pull away, before leading her back into the street.

Rozin

Rozin walked back over to the stall Kaiya had been at, only to find that she wasn't there.

"Hey do you know where the girl I was with before went?" He asked the stall owner. The man turned then bowed quickly, as he recognised who was speaking to him,

"Two boys about 16 or 17 came and took her away," He replied instantly.

"WHAT!?" Rozin shouted furiously, making a few heads in the street turn and face him.

"Where was the guard that was with her?" He added not as loudly as before,

"He went that way, to try and break up a fight, hasn't been back here since. The girl was taken that way as well." The man replied pointing in the direction the guard and Kaiya had gone in. Rozin thanked the stall's owner, and sprinted off in the direction the man had pointed in, avoiding the busy crowd of people that lined the street, the guards that had accompanied him finding it difficult to keep pace with the young prince.

Kuzon

Kuzon walked out of the shop he had spent the last half hour in, with his brand new katana strapped across his back, in a protective sheath. The guard who had accompanied him had bought a small knife for his son, since it was his birthday.

Kuzon placed his gloves on his hands, (the ones with his darts in) and then looked up. He spotted two boys and a girl with a long floor length red cloak on, they were obviously going to the slave market, a sight he was accustomed to seeing. He watched to see what the girl looked like, maybe if she was pretty he'd buy her and then set her free, so that she could have a life that she deserved.

He could tell that she was quite young from her height difference between her and the older boy who was holding her, and that she was quite strong because of the amount of effort she was putting in, in trying to get away. He watched for a little while longer, feeling like he knew the girl from the way she was moving. She threw her head back, letting the hood fall from her head revealing her face. The boy who held her roughly pulled her face back down with the hand that was clamped over her mouth, and the other boy who was following behind hurried and pulled the hood back over her face, then he realised who it was.

"KAIYA!" He shouted running in the direction of her, pulling his katana out of his sheath on the way. He sprinted ahead of them and blocked their pathway brandishing his new weapon, seeing that the teary eyed Kaiya couldn't have been more happy to see him.

"Let her go," He ordered through clenched teeth, pointing his sharpened sword in the direction of the boy's throat.

"I sorry your highness but this girl belongs to us," The one holding her said respectfully, bowing slightly and then turned to push her into the arms of the other lad behind him, who caught her then held her tightly, roughly grasping the sides of her face, covering her mouth. Kuzon watched him seeing Kaiya squint her eyes closed in pain, with it came more tears and a small whimper.

By now the people in the street had gathered around where they stood to see what the commotion was about, getting excited when they realised that one of the young princes was involved. Kuzon lowered his weapon and smirked, making the lad's feel uneasy. He had spotted Rozin push through the crowd of people with the guards, and knew that he would be able to strike fear into anyone, if something he cared about was involved. Rozin motioned the guards to stay in the crowd as he walked into the middle of it,

"On the contrary, I think you'll find that she belongs to him," Kuzon said to the two boys nodding his head behind them in the direction of Rozin. They both turned round to see Rozin as he lit two flaming daggers in his hands,

"Release her immediately!" He seethed, his face full of pure rage and hatred that it made the crowd of people take a good couple of steps back, so that they weren't in the line of fire.

The boy holding Kaiya gripped her even harder, looking to the other for help. Rozin got even angrier when he saw Kaiya's face contorted with pain, and turned his fire daggers into two big flaming balls of fire in the palm of his hands, ready to shoot them at the lad's in front of him.

"I said NOW!" Rozin ordered practically shouting on the word now. The lad holding Kaiya cautiously bought her to the young prince, let go of her and then went to stand by his accomplice. Rozin let the fire in his hands die away, and placed one of his arms around Kaiya protectively as she sobbed into his chest. He turned to his guards,

"Take them to my father, and wait for me. I will tell him what happened here and then he can determine their fate," He ordered, shooting a death glare at the lads. The guards nodded and carried out Rozin's order,

"Okay people shows over, there's nothing more to see!" Kuzon shouted so that the audience that had gathered could hear. One by one they went back to their shopping or whatever it was that they were doing before. Rozin took the cloak off of Kaiya, revealing the rope that ran from her wrists to just above her elbows. He looked over to his brother who was already two steps ahead of him, as he pulled out one of his daggers. He walked over to the still sobbing Kaiya, and carefully cut through the rope that bound her, letting it fall to the ground. Rozin wrapped the cloak back round Kaiya's shoulders (he had to admit that it was of a very good quality), and then walked her back to the palace, keeping tight hold of her around her waist, whilst she held tight onto his, scared to let go.

They ignored the cheers that greeted them as they approached the palace gates Rozin especially. The only thing he was focused on was getting Kaiya to safety. He could hardly blame the guard that had left her alone even if it was partially his fault, for it was also his duty to prevent fights in the city, which he had done so. They walked swiftly through the gates and into the palace making their way directly to the lounge. Rozin sat Kaiya on one of the sofas. he had to tug the still crying Kaiya's arms from his waist, since she was terrified to let go.

"Please bring her something warm for her to sit in, and a hot drink," He said to one of the maids as he walked up behind her. She bowed shooting a curious glance in Kaiya's direction, before heading out of the room. Rozin walked back to Kaiya, sitting down beside her, not minding when she leant on his chest, or when she wet his T-shirt with her sobs,

"Kaiya I need you to tell me exactly what happened," He whispered to her slowly. It took Kaiya a while but she eventually managed to tell him what had happened in between her sobs. Kuzon listened as well feeling sorry for her since she didn't have the love and support her parents could give her.

"Kuzon I need you to look after her, whilst I inform mum and dad, I'm sure the low life's will have arrived by now." He said the last part quietly, but Kaiya still managed to hear it, and it sent her into another convulsion of tears. Kuzon nodded his head, and went to take his brother's place next to Kaiya. He put his arm round her shoulders as she pressed her head into his chest. She didn't care who it was at the moment, as long as she was in the arms of someone she trusted, she felt safe. She felt protected.

Omashu

Haru and Toph were in an all day meeting, with the city's council, discussing ideas on how to better their city, and prevent the uproar's (although these happened very rarely), letting Tia and Zade, spend the day in the city shopping.

"What do you reckon their talking about?" Tia asked her brother, as she picked up a necklace, and held it to her neck.

"Who?" he replied, leaning against the side of the stall they were at, whilst he waited for her sister to finish,

"Mum and dad," she paused thinking "I'll take this, she said to the stall's owner as she handed him two gold pieces, before he bowed in a sign of respect.

"I dunno, boring grown up stuff that sort of thing," he answered, his voice heavy with boredom, as he helped his sister put the necklace she had just bought on

"It look's nice," he complimented her, as she turned around to show him,

"Thanks ... so where do you want to go?" she asked

"Somewhere that sell's food, it's gone lunchtime and I'm starving!" Zade replied, rubbing his stomach as it growled in agreement. Tia just laughed, and started walking toward the nearest food stall, taking a short-cut down a narrow street.

Zade had stopped to look at a weapon's stall to see what they had to offer. He was about to ask his sister what she thought about one of the daggers it had, before he realised that she had wondered off somewhere, thinking that he had been following her.

"Great!" he muttered; as he put the dagger he had been admiring back down. He smiled at the shop owner, who bowed in response, and then proceeded to look for his sister.

"TIA!" he shouted,

"ZADE HE...." he heard Tia scream, before her voice instantly cut off. Zade quickly sprang into action, sprinting toward the direction of where Tia's voice had been. He rounded the corner, of the narrow street Tia had gone down, before stopping dead in his tracks, as he saw two men draped in very dark green cloaks (closer to black than a dark green), with hoods, so that he couldn't see their faces. One of them picked Tia's limp body off the ground and slung her over his shoulder, her arms dangling down his back.

"TIA!" Zade shouted again, as the two men exited the street. Zade sprinted after them, determined to get his sister back. He finally made it to the end of the street, looking frantically around for any signs of the men. He had no luck; it was like they had vanished.

Without a second thought, Zade sprinted back up to the palace, tears streaming down his face, not stopping to catch his breath.

He finally made it to the chamber where his mother and father were having their meeting, and burst through the door, gasping for breath.

"Zade?!" Haru said as he and Toph ran over to him "What's wrong" he asked looking at his sons panic stricken face. Zade just shook his head, still gasping for air, as Toph led him over to the table they had been sat at, before placing him in one of the seats.

"It's Tia" he finally managed to choke out,

"She's been kidnapped!"


	6. The letter

Prison, in the outskirts of the Earth kingdom

"Who goes there?" A guard asked brandishing a sword that had been leant against the wall, as a man in a dark cloak walked up to the cell he was guarding. The man said nothing but drew a dagger from under his cloak,

"I said who ... " Was all the guard managed to say, before his voice cut off into a gurgle, as the cloaked man plunged the dagger into his stomach. The guard hadn't even had the chance to use his sword to protect himself, since the cloaked man had moved so quickly. He bent down to check the guards pulse, making sure he was dead, before he took the keys from his belt. The man unlocked the door to the cell, and dragged the man's body inside.

He dumped the body at the left hand side of the door after he had shut it, and turned to bow to the prisoner behind the bars,

"We have captured the princess of Omashu as you asked, your plan is working perfectly, your highness," The man said, still bowing to the prisoner.

The woman behind the bars stood up, she was skinny, pale and her long black hair was unkept. She walked up to the bars that had kept her in this wretched cell for so long, her blood red lips turning up into a smile. The contrast that they had with her pale skin was shocking.

"Thank you Ran, you and the rest of our little organisation have been very faithful to me, and you shall be rewarded," she said. The man rose from his position and unlocked the door to the second cell.

"Freedom at last," The woman said, her crimson lips turning into an evil smile,

"I shall have my revenge." And with that, they walked free of the prison, killing anyone that got in their way.

Fire nation palace

"Are you ready?" Kaiya asked as she stood in her Waterbending stance, in front of Kuzon and Rozin. Zuko and Mai were sat on a bench watching, just in case anything went wrong, Zuko had his arm around Mai's slim waist, as she rested her head on Zuko's shoulder. They hadn't let her set foot out of the palace snce they had heard about what had happened, not unless she was accompanied by either him or Mai.

"Bring it on!" Kuzon said cockily, as Rozin just nodded his head.

Kuzon was the first to strike (as usual), throwing his daggers, pinning Kaiya's feet to the ground. Kaiya smirked, before water whipping the two princes in the forehead, giving her enough time to pull out the daggers that held her feet in place. She then used the new move that her mother had taught her and Jade, pulling water from the air around her. She froze the water into spikes, sending them toward Kuzon and Rozin, trapping them so they couldn't move.

Zuko smiled at her. She was the spitting image of Katara, except for her fair skin, and she fought with the same ferocity, and strength as a true master Waterbender.

They were soon interrupted by one of Zuko's guards, carrying a scroll tied with a black ribbon, he bowed and presented the scroll to Zuko, who bowed back before reading it.

Kaiya released Rozin and Kuzon, unfreezing the water, as guards came bearing towels for the three of them.

"What is it Zuko?" Mai asked when her husband stood up, his eyes widening in shock, as he read through the letter.

"Guards, arrange a meeting with the council and the war general, as soon as possible, and I want these kids under 24 hour surveillance," Zuko ordered, his voice strained as he tried to control his temper,

"Certainly Firelord Zuko," His guards replied bowing, before running off to arrange the meeting.

"Kid's I want you to go inside and stay there, under no circumstances are you to leave this palace without myself or Mai, is that understood?" Zuko asked the sternly. All three kids's nodded their heads, and silently walked into the palace, accompanied by four guards.

"Zuko please, what is the matter?" Mai asked concerned, after what Zuko had just done. Zuko waited until everyone was out of hearing range, before proceeding to tell Mai,

"Toph and Haru's daughter has been kidnapped, but that's not all, Azula has escaped from prison, she left the prison with a cloaked man, and killed 20 guards Mai 20, and she's on the loose!" He said, his voice growing louder with every word, until he finally slumped back on the bench, putting his head in his hands.

"Come on Zuko, you don't even know what she wants," she said to him, as she sat down next to him, putting her arm around his shoulder.

"I know Mai, but I can't take any chances, you know what she's like." He replied. Mai shuddered at the memories she had of Azula

"Sorry" He said apologetically, when he felt Mai shudder against him, hugging his wife closer to him,

"No don't be, I'm fine," She replied honestly.

"Firelord Zuko, you're meeting will take place in an hour, by then the council and the general will be seated in you're meeting chamber," One of his guards said. Zuko just nodded dismissing the guard.

Lounge – Kids

"What was that about?" Kaiya asked confused, as she took a seat on one of the sofas,

"I dunno, but black ribboned messages are usually important," Kuzon said as he fiddled with one of his sai's.

"Probably just the general reporting on an uproar, somewhere in the city," Rozin said, gazing out of one of the windows that looked out onto the city below.

"Nothing major then?" Kaiya asked,

"Probably not" Kuzon sighed, putting his sia back into his belt, and pulling out a couple of shurikens, just as Mai and Zuko came through the door.

"Rozin, Kuzon, Kaiya," Zuko said signalling them to sit in front of him.

"We have some bad news, you see that letter was from King Haru, he's said to keep you kid's under surveillance, because Tia has been kidnapped," Mai said instead of Zuko, since she didn't think Zuko could manage telling them. All the kids eyes widened in shock,

"WHAT!" Kuzon shouted furiously. Kuzon would never admit it, but he'd taken a shine to Tia, in the short time they had spent together, on their vacation to the western air temple.

"I know it's a shock, but we are not taking any risks" Zuko said, as he looked at the kids.

"Do my parents know?" Kaiya asked quietly,

"I'm sure they will get the message, but for now Kaiya, you will be under the highest protection the Fire nation can offer" Zuko said before turning to his sons,

"I trust that you will also keep an eye on Kaiya as well" he said. Kuzon nodded,

"You have our word father" Rozin said. Zuko smiled weakly at his sons, before turning to walk out of the room, hand in hand with Mai.

Kyoshi

"Very good Jade," Master Chen praised his newest student.

"Thank you," She replied breathlessly,

"How about you take a break?" Chen asked, handing Jade a glass of mango juice, patting the rock beside him

"I'm surprised at how much you have managed to teach yourself, usually people in your situation struggle to get past the basics of Waterbending," Chen said, taking a sip of his guava juice.

"Thank you for coming up here, Sifu Chen, it means a lot to me to finally have another Waterbender on Kyoshi," Jade said, as she looked out to the ocean.

"Jade, how would you like to take your Waterbending one step further?" Chen asked, placing his glass on the sand,

"That would be fantastic!" She replied immediately, as Chen smiled at her,

"Very well then. What do trees and plants need for them to grow?" Chen asked her, picking up a stone, and skimming it across the crystal, blue water. Jade was confused by his question, but proceeded to think on an answer anyway,

"Nutrients from the ground they grow in I guess"

"What else, and think carefully before you answer." Jade thought for another moment, before her eyes lit up with excitement,

"WATER!" She exclaimed. Master Chen laughed,

"Very good child, you have the makings of a true Waterbending Master," patting Jade lightly on the head, before he got into his stance.

"Now, watch carefully Jade, this technique takes time to master, but can become very handy when you need it the most, so don't get put off if you don't get it the first few tries." Jade nodded, watching Master Chen's every movement intently.

They spent the rest of the day training on the beach, before Master Chen finally decided when they'd had enough.

"I'm very impressed Jade you've managed to learn this technique in less than a day, whereas most people take weeks to even learn the basics,"

"Thank you," Jade said before adding, "Master Chen, I was wondering if you would do me the honour, of joining me and my family for dinner tonight,"

"It would be my pleasure," He replied, as Jade bowed to her mentor,

"I also expect to see you bright and early tomorrow morning, so we can continue this session," Chen added, as Jade led the way back up the beach, to her house,

"Of course, I can't wait" She replied, as she reached her house. She brushed the sand from her feet, before she opened the front door, only to find her parents sat at their table, a scroll in Sokka's hands.

Western air temple

"AANG!" Katara shouted, panic stricken,

"Katara what is it? What's wrong?" aang asked worriedly, rushing to her side,

"Where's Akira?" She asked,

"He's outside, playing with Appa. What's gotten into you Katara?" Katara said nothing, but just pointed to a piece of parchment, that was unrolled on the table. Aang walked over to the table, and sat down, before picking up the letter, and reading it carefully.

Shock, and anger, but most of all fear for his family, were the emotions that played across his face.

"AKIRA!" Aang shouted, throwing the letter back onto the table, as he stood up,

"I'm here" He said as he walked through the door to their lounge

"Go and pack your things, were going to get your sister" Aang told him, his voice monotone. Akira looked to his mother, who motioned her hands for him to go and do as he was told.

"Aang, it's going to be alright, I'm sure," she said trying to convince herself as well as her husband,

"NO! No Katara it's not, Azula is on the loose, and we don't know what she wants, and to top it all off Tia's been kidnapped!" He shouted, his voice filled with pure rage,

"We will leave for the Fire nation, tomorrow morning, once we, and Appa have rested," Aang said, his voice calmer.

"We'll find her Aang, I know we will, I just hope Tia is alright," Katara said, as she walked up to him and hugged him tightly.

"If anything happened to any of you, I'd never forgive myself," Aang whispered in Katara's ear,

"I love you," she whispered back, silent tears, rolling down her cheeks,

"I love you too, and nothing in the world could change it otherwise," he replied; before he leant down to passionately kiss his wife.

Azula's Headquarters – Tia

Tia awoke to a dark lit room. She went to press her hand to her head to try and stop the pounding, (the last thing she remembered was being hit across the forehead, with something hard and cold), until she realised that her hands and feet had been chained to the wall behind her.

The chains had allowed her enough leeway to lie down, so she managed to press her hand to her forehead. Feeling the stickiness of partially dried blood, that had seeped out of the large gash that covered the left side of her forehead, from where she had been hit.

Tia sat up, and looked around at her surroundings, the entire cell was made of wood, except for the chains that bound her, a torn and ragged blanket had been tossed on the floor, next to a small glass of water that had been left beside her. She also realised that she was still in the floor length, long sleeved dress, she had worn to go shopping in with Zade.

Zade's face flashed in her mind, as she remembered hearing him shout her name, followed by the faces of her parents. She began to sob soundlessly as she thought about the idea of never seeing her family again.

After what felt like an hour, Tia finally managed to stop crying. She didn't dare touch the water that had been left on the floor for her, just in case it had something in it, and she didn't feel the need to wrap the blanket around her even though the cell was freezing cold. A few moments later she heard footsteps echo in the hallway outside of her cell, she listened as the footsteps came closer stopping outside the cell door, which clicked and then creaked open.

Two cloaked men, like the ones who ha kidnapped Tia walked in behind a woman she had never seen before.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here, a little princess who strayed to far from home," The woman said her tone deadly calm,

"As I recall, your freaky henchmen kidnapped me!" Tia spat back at her.

"Who are you, and what right do you have to imprison me?" She added angrily.

"You might want to hold your tongue little girl, that is if you know what's best for you," The woman merely replied,

"How dare you tell me what to do! Now tell me who you are!" Tia shouted, glaring at the woman, a deathly glint in her eyes.

"All in due course my dear." Was her only response, before she turned and walked away. Tia quickly picked up the glass of water, and threw it at her so it hit the woman in the back, between her shoulder blades, stopping her from walking any further. She turned around, and silently walked back to Tia grabbing the top of her right arm.

Tia screamed in pain as the woman burnt her arm, letting the blood soak her silk sleeve.

"I suggest you start co-operating, unless you want another one to match! And if you don't then this cell is going to be the last place you shall ever see!" The woman seethed through gritted teeth, as she threw Tia to the ground as hard as she could before walking out of the cell, slamming the door behind her.

The bolt clicked again as the door locked. Tia was left lying on the floor sobbing in agony, clutching at her injured arm with her good hand.


	7. Second strike

Fire nation palace

Rozin, Kuzon and Kaiya were escorted to their rooms that night by six guards. Kaiya had been moved closer to where Rozin's and Kuzon's chambers were in the palace.

"Lady Kaiya, your belongings have been placed in this room by the request of Firelord Zuko, and Fire lady Mai," One of the guards said as he opened the door to her temporary quarters.

Before entering Kaiya bid Kuzon goodnight, and gave Rozin a quick hug, after Kuzon had gone into his room. She was about to enter her own but Rozin grabbed her wrist gently and turned her around to face him. She looked at him confused.

"What is it Rozin?" She asked him, tilting her head slightly to the side,

"I haven't had the chance to give you something," He replied shrugging his shoulders,

"Stay here and i'll be right back," He added and then darted into his room. Kaiya could hear him rumaging through his drawers until he found what he was looking for, and came back to stand in front of her. He held out his hand, and in its palm was a small silk, red bag. Kaiya took it out of Rozin's hand, and undid the gold thread ties that held the top of the bag together, then she tipped the contents of the bag into the palm of her other hand.

"I...I don't know what to say Rozin its .... beautiful," She whispered. In her hand she held a metal bracelet encrusted with red stones, yet a large blue stone was set in the middle of them, the colours of fire and water, mixed together in perfect harmony.

"It's nothing really, I just wanted to get you something so you wouldn't forget the time you spent here," Rozin told her shrugging his shoulders again.

"But ... when?" Kaiya asked, slipping the bacelet onto her wrist,

"When we went into the city that day," He replied quietly. Kaiya shuffled her feet and turned her attention to them, she didn't want to think about that day.

"Sorry," He apologised,

"Nah its fine ... Thanks," She replied looking to her bracelet, moving her wrist around to watch the stones sparkle in the dim lights of the torches, that lined the corridor.

"Don't mention it," Rozin said as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly,

"ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO BED OR NOT!" Kuzon shouted from his room his voice annoyed. Kaiya laughed quietly, and Rozin smirked.

"See you tomorrow?" Kaiya asked after a pause,

"Why wouldn't you?" He asked confused. Kaiya just shrugged in response,

"You could be busy," She explained.

"Not really, its my dad that has all the work to do," Rozin replied,

"GUYS COME ON! I'M TRYING TO GET SOME SLEEP HERE!" Kuzon shouted again this time angrily, which was then followed by a thud at his door. He obviously threw something at it,

"SORRY!" Kaiya shouted back, trying to keep from laughing and then turned back to face Rozin who was looking at the door of his brothers room, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Night," She said still trying to stifle her laughter,

"Night" He replied.

Rozin waited untill Kaiya had gone into her room, before he entered his cursing under his breath about his brother.

Zuko had ordered two guards to stand either side of their doors that night, just as a precaution. Like he had said, he wasn't going to take any risks.

Kaiya quickly changed into her floor length, silk, blue night gown, and tied her hair up into a loose pony-tail, before hopping into the luxurious, king sized bed. She looked to the barcelet on her wrist and smiled to herself, before she took it off, and placed it on the table beside her bed. She was so worn out by the events that had occurred that day, that she fell into a deep sleep just minutes after shutting her eyes.

Kaiya awoke later that evening, after hearing two thuds outside her door. She sat up and listened as four more followed. Kaiya grabbed her pouches of water from the bedside table, and lightly jumped out of her bed.

Her door creaked open, but no-one came in, Kaiya gulped and readied her water, as she walked over to her door. As she was about to open it, she heard quiet footsteps behind her. She spun round shooting her water as she did, but her effort was futile. As she came to stand opposite the person in front of her, it struck back. She could just make out a fist covered with earth come flying towards her face, before everything went dark.

Rozin awoke early the next morning, (like usual). He got up washed his face, and changed into his training gear, but couldn't help feeling that something wasn't right. As he walked toward the door, he looked around his room, until his eyes came to rest upon a pool of blood, that was seeped from the hallway, under his door and into his room.

He cautiously manoeuvred around the blood, careful not to step in it, before opening his door. Rozin had to quickly jump out of the way, as the bodies of the two guards, that had been guarding his room, fell through his doorway, and into his room.

"MUM, DAD!" Rozin shouted as loud as he could, even though he knew they wouldn't be able to hear him, as he jumped over the bodies and out into the hallway, only to find four more, lying motionless on the ground.

Without a second thought Rozin ran through the corridors shouting for help, in between his shouting for his mother and father, as he ran to their room.

Zuko had just opened his door, as Rozin ran into him,

"What's with all the shouting Rozin?" Zuko asked his son alarmed, as he wiped the tears, from his sons eyes with the pad of his thumb. Rozin couldn't speak, since he was so shaken up, but instead he grabbed his father by the wrist dragging him back to his room, with Mai anxiously following behind them. Halfway there though, Rozin suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, as he thought of something that hadn't even crossed his mind, until now.

"What's wrong Rozin?" Mai asked, as she came to stand beside Zuko,

"Kaiya," Was the only word he whispered, before he dropped his father's wrist, and sprinting in the direction of Kaiya's room. Rozin burst through the door, avoiding the bodies on the floor, Zuko and Mai running in after him.

Rozin knelt down next to Kaiya's water pouches, looking at the water that had been strewn across the floor. Rozin slowly turned his head round towards his parents, and mouthed the word 'Kuzon'.

Zuko ran out of the room, bursting through Kuzon's doors, heaving a sigh of relief, as he saw his son fast asleep in his bed. Kuzon stirred in his sleep before waking up.

"Dad?" He said confused, sitting up, and rubbing his eyes.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I'll explain everything later, but right now you need to get up." Zuko replied, hugging his son tightly, before letting him go.

"Firelord, I'm sorry for the intrusion, but the avatar and his family are here to see you, they have come to pick up their daughter," One of Zuko's guards said uncomfortably.

"Tell them I'll be with them shortly, but for now make them comfortable until I arrive," Zuko replied to the guard, who bowed and left,

"What are you going to tell them Zuko?" Mai asked him as she walked through the door, with Rozin, whose expression was completely blank.

"What do you think I'm going to say, I have to tell them, I can't exactly lie can I," Zuko replied, standing up from his son' s bed, before he walked to one of his servants,

"Will you please get someone to clean this mess up," he asked her politely. The girl nodded and bowed. Zuko looked to Rozin, who was staring in front of him, not seeing anything, not blinking, not moving. Zuko then turned his head to Mai,

"I should probably go, they will be wondering where I am," He said. Mai just nodded.

"We'll meet you down there," she said, as she held her hand out to Kuzon, who was now fully dressed in his training gear, much like his brother. Kuzon took it, and Mai led him, and Rozin out of the room, to go and meet Aang.

Lounge

Zuko joined his family in the lounge, and sat opposite Aang, Katara and Akira, before turning to nod to Kuzon,

"Hey Akira, do you want to go and feed the turtle ducks?" He asked, not sure if his brother was able to speak,

"Sure, and I'll show you the new move I've learnt" Akira said, jumping to his feet, and following Kuzon and Rozin out of the lounge, and into the garden. Zuko waved his hand signalling 15 guards to accompany them, as they walked out of the room.

"What's going on Zuko?" Aang asked concerned, as soon as the doors shut behind them. Zuko told Aang and Katara, all that he knew,

"Whoever it was only took your daughter, I'm sorry," Zuko said as he handed Katara Kaiya's water pouches,

"We found these on her bedroom floor, along with all the water that was in them,"

All eyes were on Aang as his eyes and tattoo's flashed a blinding white, tears running down his cheeks

"Aang," Katara said grabbing his hand, and pulling him into her

"We'll find her Aang, and the monsters that took her," She said , through gritted teeth, tears welling up in her eyes, as she comforted Aang, until his eyes and tattoo's returned to normal.

"When we find the low life's who did this, I swear I will show NO mercy!" He said murderously.

Azula's headquarters

"Princess, the Avatar's daughter has been captured," Ran said to Azula, as they walked down one of the corridors,

"You are very faithful to me Ran, even after my moment of weakness all those years ago," She replied

"The Dai-Li will always remain faithful to you princess,"

"That's what I like to hear, now how is the reconstruction of your lair under Lake Lougai coming along?" Azula asked as they walked down some stairs, toward her meeting chamber.

"Princess, we cannot penetrate the walls of Ba-sing-se, the Earth King has recruited an army far stronger than our own, but we are building a replica not to far from here."

"Oh, well I suppose it doesn't matter where it is, just as long as it's ready by next week," Azula sighed.

"You have my word princess," Ran said, as he bowed by her side.

Tia's cell

Tia awoke to the sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway, turning to face to door as the bolt clicked, and it opened.

Two cloaked men walked in, one had Kaiya thrown over his shoulder.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER!!?" Tia screamed, standing up, thrashing at the chains that bound her. She had seen a huge red gash covering the left side of Kaiya's forehead, and part of her cheek,

"YOU PSYCHO MANIACS, LET ME OUT OF HERE, SO I CAN KICK BOTH YOUR BUT'S!!" She shrieked thrashing even more wildly at the chains, ignoring the searing pain that shot through her right arm, where Azula had burnt her.

The man who was chaining Kaiya's limp body to the wall next to Tia, nodded his head toward Tia,

"Shut her up will you," He said to the other man. He walked up to Tia, slapping her hard across the face, creating a cut to form across her cheek, and causing her to slam back into the wall behind her, before taking a piece of cloth out of his pocket, and gagging her with it. He shortened Tia's chains that bound her arms, so that she couldn't remove the gag, just as the other man finished chaining Kaiya's hands and feet.

Tia sat on the floor next to her unconscious friend, her sobs muffled, by the piece of cloth tied around her mouth, as the men walked out of the cell, slamming the wooden door behind them.

Omashu

"Who took her?" General Feng said to Haru,

"We don't know, all Zade saw was two men dressed in very dark green, full length cloaks, with hoods," Haru answered,

"And where is Zade now?" The general asked

"He's with his mother in the lounge; she's trying to get him to eat something, since he hasn't eaten anything in the past day," Haru replied sadly, concerned for his son's well being.

"Your Highness, a message has just arrived for you, from the Fire Nation palace," Lieutenant Wong, said as he ran through the door. Haru took the letter, and proceeded to read it,

"What does it say?" Toph asked as she stood in the doorway, holding hands with their son,

"General, Lieutenant, could I please be excused from this meeting?" Haru asked

"Certainly your Highness," The general said, as he and the Lieutenant bowed, as Haru left taking his wife by the hand, and leading her away from the room,

"Where are we going?" Toph asked confused,

"Somewhere, where we can talk in private," He answered. Haru led Toph and his son, into his bedroom,

"So this was the only private place you could think of," Toph chuckled, without much emotion

"This is no laughing matter Toph," Haru said to her sternly, throwing the letter he had in his hand on the table in front of her,

"What am I supposed to do with that?" Toph asked, when she heard the piece of parchment flutter in front of her, and land on the table,

"Oh sorry, I forgot you couldn't read," Haru apologized, reaching for the letter, but before Haru could take it back, Zade quickly snatched it from the table, and started to read it,

"Kaiya's been kidnapped as well, right from the Fire Nation palace," Zade exclaimed, as he read the letter to his mother. Toph stood in shock, as she listened to her son, before she turned to look at him,

"Zade, I want you to accompany me outside, you to Haru," She said, as she turned to walk out of their room,

"Where are we going now?" Zade asked confused, as he and Haru followed Toph,

"I'm going to train both of you," She replied, as she rounded a corner in one of the hallways.

Toph led them to the training area, which she and Haru had built for their children,

"Why are we here?" Haru asked,

"Like I said sweetie, I'm going to train you and Zade, by teaching you a new technique,"

"What is it mum?" Zade asked excitedly. Haru was intrigued to find out as well, he knew that Toph was a very powerful Earthbender, but he couldn't possibly think of anything Toph could teach him, since he knew pretty much any Earthbending form.

Toph breathed out deeply,

"I'm going to teach you a move that only I know how to do, I was planning on teaching it to you, when you and your sister were a little older, but after the events that have occurred, I think now would be a pretty good time," She replied, before adding,

"I'm going to teach you both how to Metalbend." Toph grunted as she bended two giant metal panels, from one of the walls, placing them vertically in front of Zade and Haru,

"Now, let's get started."

Kyoshi

Jade had been practicing even harder with Master Chen, fuelling her Waterbending with rage, after she had heard about Tia's abduction. Between her breaks for her Waterbending sessions, she went to the dojo to train with her mother, sister, and the other Kyoshi warriors.

That afternoon she was down at the beach with Master Chen, she had accomplished a lot more since Master Chen had been teaching her, and had just mastered the technique of bending the water, in plants, trees, and vines, to move at her will.

"JADE!" Suki's voice shouted from the direction of their house. Jade turned and bowed to Master Chen, before she spoke,

"I better go and see what she wants, before I get into trouble,"

"Of course Jade, would you like to continue training tomorrow, or would you like a break?" Chen asked,

"Nope, I shall see you bright and early tomorrow morning, if that's alright." Master Chen laughed at Jade's enthusiasm,

"That's fine by me Jade," he replied,

"JADE!" Suki's voice shouted again. Master Chen waved his hand for her to go, Jade smiled and bowed again, before making her way up the beach, and towards her home.

As soon as Jade approached the front door of their home, Suki ran out and hugged her daughter fiercely, tears running down her cheeks. Suki stood up and looked around, as if someone was watching them, before taking Jade by the wrist and quickly leading her inside.

"Mum what's going on?" Jade asked, snatching her wrist out of her mother's grasp, as soon as she had shut the door. Sokka then came in, carrying Tao in one arm, and holding Sana's hand with the other,

"Jade you are not to leave ours or Master Chen's sight, is that understood?" Sokka asked her, as he placed Tao on his feet, by his side,

"No I don't understand, why? What's going on?" Jade asked again, completely and utterly confused. Suki picked up the piece of parchment that was on the table, and handed it to Jade without speaking. Jade read it before placing it back on the table,

"So what now?" she asked,

"First Tia, and now Kaiya, who's next on the list?" She said through gritted teeth,

"Look Jade, we don't know what's going on at the moment, but we'll find out soon I'm sure, but until we do, were not letting any of you out of our sight," Sokka said as he walked round the table to comfort Suki.

"Fine!" Jade seethed, storming out of the kitchen and into her room.

* * *

_Hi again. Yeah chapter 7 sorry if some sections are short, i can't think of what else to write in them, and if my grammer isn't that great please tell me so i know to change it or make it better. Hope you enjoyed it and i'll update when i'm able! :)_


	8. Third strike

Prison cell – Tia and Kaiya

'Come on Kaiya please wake up' Tia thought to herself since she couldn't talk. Kaiya had been unconscious for a while and Tia was getting worried. She gently shook Kaiya with her foot, since she couldn't reach her with hers hand's, (her chains were still short). Kaiya stirred and woke up; Tia breathed a sigh of relief, glad to see that her friend was okay.

It took Kaiya a while to come round, taking in her surroundings as she did. Kaiya's gaze finally came to rest upon Tia. She looked at her confused, before she put two and two together, and her eyes widened in shock.

Kaiya stared at Tia, her eyes were red and wet from the amount of crying she had been doing, she had a gash on the left side of her head, and a smaller one on her right cheek, her dress had been torn, her right sleeve was covered in blood, and the chains that bound her feet, had left deep cuts from where they had dug in. This was the same with her wrists.

Kaiya tried to get up, before realising that she to had been chained to the wall behind her just like Tia.

"Tia what the hell happened to you?" Kaiya asked, her voice quiet and croaky, as a result of being unconscious for a long time. Tia just shook her head, and pointed to her mouth,

"Oh sorry," Kaiya apologised. Tia just shook her head again as if to say 'No don't be, it's not your fault.'

They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound made by the chains, as they rattled when either of them moved. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, the bolt on the door clicked, and as usual two cloaked men appeared, one of them carrying two trays of food. The other walked over to Tia, and removed her gag, before proceeding to lengthen her chains, and turning to leave. The man that was left placed the trays of food in front of Kaiya, and then followed the other guy out of the cell, locking the door behind him.

"Well they certainly are cheery," Kaiya said sarcastically as she handed one of the trays to Tia, who took it willingly, as she gave Kaiya a weak smile. The gag that had been tied around Tia's mouth had left bruises either side of it, showing how tightly it had been tied.

"So, what's the plan?" Kaiya asked, taking a sip of her water, to try and clear her throat,

"In case you haven't noticed Kaiya, were not in the best situation to make plans. Were in a wooden cell, chained to a wall, and to put the cherry on the cake, there are these psychopathic guards, that don't really care if they hurt us or not," Tia replied, wincing at the pain the bruises caused her, when she moved her mouth.

Kaiya sighed looking around again, as she knew that Tia was right.

She hadn't noticed Tia's arm that well, because her sleeve had been in the way, but now that she had, she was mortified.

"Tia, what happened to your arm?" She asked, as she managed to grab it, lifting her sleeve out of the way. Tia winced as Kaiya gasped in shock, pulling her sleeve further out the way, showing the extent of damage Azula had done to her.

"Can you heal it?" She asked.

"I can try, but how did it happen?" Kaiya asked again, as she examined the burn on her arm. Tia sighed heavily, before she spoke,

"Well, before you came, a woman came to see me; I think she's the leader or something. Anyway she wouldn't answer any of my questions, so I threw my water at her, and then she did this."

Kaiya nodded her head, before she bended the remainder of the water she had left in her glass (which wasn't much), and began to heal Tia's arm.

"It's gonna take a while for it to heal fully, but I should be able to do it," Kaiya said, as the water soaked into Tia's arm, making it look marginally better.

Tia moved her arm around as much as she could. Most of the pain had gone, but it still hurt her when she moved it to far.

"Thank you, that helped a lot," Tia said smiling at Kaiya, before wincing again as it hurt her mouth,

"No prob's, but you should try to avoid smiling if it hurts," Kaiya advised, as Tia nodded.

They sat in silence as they finished the small meal that they had been given.

Fire nation palace

"What now?" Aang asked Zuko, as he paced the length of the lounge,

"We wait," Zuko replied,

"We Wait. What do you mean we wait? My daughter is missing, and you think it would be best to WAIT!" Katara shouted at Zuko.

"Katara," Zuko said calmly,

"Sokka and Haru are heading here at this moment it time, I sent a letter to them asking them to come here, as soon as they received it." He paused motioning for Katara to sit down. He waited until she had before carrying on,

"I have a plan, and I will discuss it with everyone when the others arrive, but for now I'm afraid we have to wait." Aang came and sat down next to Katara, placing his arms around her, as she leant against his chest,

"I know how you feel Katara, I would love to take evasive action, but we don't even know were Kaiya and Tia are," He whispered,

"We will find them," Aang promised, leaning down to press his lips against Katara's forehead.

The lounge – Rozin, Kuzon and Akira

Rozin, Kuzon and Akira, were sat silently in the middle of the lounge, with 20 Firebenders lining the perimeter of the room. Kuzon was playing a game of four nations with Akira, whilst Rozin was sat cross legged on the floor, staring at the wall in front of him just like he had for the past two hours. Akira got up and walked to sit next to Rozin who didn't move.

"They'll be ok," Akira said to Rozin reassuringly. After a long pause of silence Rozin finally turned to face Akira,

"You don't understand Akira, I promised my father and yours that I would protect Kaiya, but I failed," Rozin said sternly.

"Rozin there was nothing you could do, even if you were able to help Kaiya," Kuzon said as he came to sit with them,

"I know how you feel," He added quietly.

"How could you possibly know how I feel!" Rozin bellowed, jumping up from where he was sat his hands balling up into tight fists. Kuzon jumped back a little bit, but remained calm since he knew his brother had to let his rage out at some point.

"Do you feel like your heart has been ripped out, and it feels like you have a big gaping hole where it used to be, because you were incapable of protecting someone you care about, and now you don't know where they are, or what their going through, which only makes the pain 100 times worse?! " Rozin added just as loudly, inhaling deeply as he finished his sentence, tears welling up in his eyes, as he stared down at his brother.

"No I don't, but I can relate to that, because they also took Tia." Kuzon replied. Rozin looked at him, as did Akira,

"Wait; hold on, do you mean to say that you like Tia?" Akira asked him. Kuzon looked to Rozin, and then to Akira, 'Well done, now you have to tell them, there's no point in denying it' He thought to himself, before he sighed and nodded.

"Finally!" Akira said loudly. Kuzon and Rozin were taken aback by Akira's sudden outburst.

"What are you talking about?" Kuzon asked him confused.

"You are so blind Kuzon, Tia has had a crush in you for ages, she's been wanting to tell you, but she's been to scared," He said,

"But, why would she be scared?" Rozin asked him, before Kuzon could get the chance,

"I dunno, probably because she didn't want to get rejected, or laughed at," Akira replied. Kuzon mentally kicked himself for being so stupid. He should have been able to guess that she had liked him from the way she blushed, after he caught her staring at him, when they were sat around the fire at the western air temple.

"I'm sorry Kuzon, I ... I had no idea," Rozin apologized

"Yeah well now you do," Kuzon sighed, feeling like a complete fool.

"We'll get them back," Rozin said to him, before turning accompany to Akira, in a game of four nations, his recent catatonic state forgotten about.

Zuko's Meeting Chamber

That evening, Sokka and Haru, arrived at the palace with their families. Suki had also asked the Kyoshi warriors to join them, and they were more than willing to tag along. They wasted no time in making sure the kids were safe in the lounge, before heading to the meeting Zuko had arranged.

"What's this plan of yours then Zuko," Toph asked, as soon as everyone had been seated, Zuko sat at the head of the table, with Mai by his side.

"Well, whoever took Tia and Kaiya will probably strike again, that is why I have invited you all here," Zuko replied seriously,

"So all we need to do is be ready and prepared for them," Sokka said. Zuko nodded his head, replying to Sokka's statement.

"They could strike at any time, so we must be alert," Aang added

"Yes, then when they do strike, we will capture them," Zuko replied,

"Then they'll tell us where our kids are, and if they don't, then they'll have me to answer to, along with a whole lot of pain," Toph seethed, her voice shaking as she tried to hold back her rage. Haru had to keep his arm tightly around her waist, to prevent her from standing up, and doing anything that she might regret.

"We'll need someone to keep a 24 hour watch on the kids, but we also need to be cunning, so that they don't know were watching them," Haru added.

"Then, when they come, BAM!" Sokka said, smacking his hands together, as he said the word 'BAM.'

"They'll never see it coming," He added smugly.

"It should be easier with everyone in one place, but my guess is that if they do strike again, it will be soon, very soon, so we need to be ready," Aang said, with everyone nodding their heads in agreement.

Lounge – The Kids

Rozin, Kuzon, Jade, Akira, Zade, Tao and Sana, had just finished eating their desserts. They had eaten in the lounge that night, so they would be more comfortable, after they had finished eating.

"What do you reckon their talking about?" Jade asked,

"Probably those creeps that took Tia and Kaiya," Kuzon replied to her. Zade, Akira and Rozin, fidgeted uncomfortably in their seats, when Kuzon said the girls names.

"Sorry," He added, as he saw the effect it had. The kids sat in silence for a while, before Tao spoke,

"I'm hungry,"

"Tao, you just ate a full three course meal, how can you possibly be hungry?" Sana asked him, swatting him gently on the shoulder. The rest of the kids couldn't help but laugh, for the first time since they had heard about Tia's kidnapping. Tao pulled on Sana's sleeve,

"Sana, I gotta go to the bathroom," He announced. Everyone looked to Rozin,

"What?" He asked,

"Well you are the oldest out of all of us, therefore you're in charge," Kuzon said. Rozin sighed then walked over to the metal door. He stuck his head out, looking around the dark corridors for one of the guards, so they could escort Tao to the bathroom. He finally spotted four silhouettes, lying motionless on the ground.

Rozin stepped back inside the room, slamming the door behind him and locking it.

"Rozin what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Akira said, as he looked at Rozin's face, which was as white as a sheet.

"Everyone get up now, get you're weapons or whatever you need, and form a circle around the younger two, I think were going to be in for a fight," Rozin ordered sternly, trying to keep his cool. Everyone did as Rozin asked, forming a circle around Tao and Sana, since they weren't as experienced as fighting, as the rest of them were.

Tao had forgotten all about his need for the toilet, and had turned into what he liked to call 'His warrior mode,' as did Sana, her personality changing into that of a Kyoshi Warrior.

As they waited, Rozin head a noise above him, and looked up. He saw six darkly cloaked men, hanging from the ceiling. He motioned for everyone to look up, just as the men dropped from the ceiling, landing lightly on the floor, forming a circle around the kids.

Zade was the first one to do anything, using his newly learnt technique, bending the metal floor, around all six of the men's feet, holding them in place. Rozin took advantage of this shooting fireball's at the two men closest to him. One managed to duck out of the way, but the other wasn't quick enough, and got hit full on in the chest, letting out a scream of pain.

Next to Rozin Jade was beginning to pull water from the air around her, but before she could use it, one of the men bended the earth that had been encased around his hands, straight at Jade's face, knocking her out cold.

"JADE!" Tao and Sana screamed together, running over to their sister, and kneeling down beside her, trying to wake her up. Zade diverted his attention to Jade and her younger siblings, bending the metal floor around them, to form a protective cocoon.

Kuzon threw one of his daggers, hitting one of the men he was taking on, in his stomach, causing him to double over in pain. He suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot across the back of his head, before he blacked out. One of the creeps had managed to get a lucky shot, sending his rock fists into the back of Kuzon's head knocking him out.

Rozin and Zade managed to take out three more by themselves, leaving one more left alive. Zade was about to bend a metal spike straight through his miserable heart, before Rozin stopped him,

"Wait!" He ordered.

"Why should I, this is one on the bastards that kidnapped my sister, give me one good reason why I shouldn't end his life," Zade said through gritted teeth, the words like poison on his tongue, as he inched the spike ever so closer to the man's heart,

"Because, if you kill him, then we won't be able to find out where Kaiya and your sister are," Rozin said calmly, looking Zade straight in the eye. Zade huffed in fury and annoyance, but dropped the metal spike, back onto the floor.

The man that was left took advantage of this situation, and sent the earth around his fists straight into Rozin's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and causing him to fall on the floor flat on his back, clutching at his stomach.

"You git," Zade shouted toward the man, bending the metal that was holding his feet, up and around his body, encasing him so he couldn't move. He then turned around to where Jade was, and bended the metal that was around them, back to normal, just as Aang burst through the door , and into the room with the others following him.

Akira had managed to escape, running as fast as he could to inform their parents of what was going on.

"JADE!" Suki shouted as she saw her daughter lying on the ground, with her younger siblings knelt by her side, crying.

"KUZON!" Mai screamed, as she saw her son, running over to him to check if he was alright. Zuko ran up to their other son to help him up, Rozin clutched at his stomach again, wincing at the pain, as he got to his feet.

"Mummy is she going to be alright?" Tao and Sana, asked their mother, as she hugged them close to her sides.

"I think so," She replied, as she looked to her husband, who had run over to Jade, after Suki, and was now cradling her head in his lap.

"Zuko!" Mai shouted, tears welling up in her eyes, as she held Kuzon, her arms and hands covered in blood, which was seeping out of a huge gash, in the back of Kuzon's head.

Katara ran over to him, ahead of Zuko, bending the water out of her pouches, so it covered her hand's, before putting them on the back of Kuzon's head, (which was supported by Mai), to heal it.

"He'll be fine, it'll takes a couple more minutes for him to come round though," Katara reassured them, before diverting her attention to Jade. She had a gash, which covered her right cheekbone, but nothing as serious as Kuzon's had been.

Meanwhile Toph and Haru were congratulating Zade, on the extent of Metalbending, he had used,

"I'm so proud of you," Toph said to him, hugging him tightly, as Haru patted him on the back, and smiled at him. Katara then walked over to Rozin, after she had finished healing Jade,

"Do you want me to take a look at it?" She asked him, as she placed her hand on his shoulder, to get his attention.

"Please, if you wouldn't mind," He replied, through gritted teeth, as he struggled to get the words out, because of the excruciating pain he was in. Katara led him to the table, the kids had eaten their dinner at that night, clearing some space for Rozin to lie down, so she had better access to properly heal his stomach.

"Thank you," Rozin said to Katara after she had healed him, and sat him up, to see if he was okay.

"Don't mention it," She replied, smiling at him. He smiled back at her, before hopping down, off the table, and going to see his brother, who was just starting to come round.

Everyone had almost forgotten about the man encased in metal, Until Aang turned around and saw him. By this point Jade and Kuzon had come round, and were fully awake. Everything was silent as they all glared at the man. Pure rage was the only emotion that could be seen on their faces.


	9. Escape

The Lounge

"Where are our kids?!" Toph spat at the cloaked man who was still encased in the metal Zade had put him in. The man said nothing, he only smirked at Toph.

Katara rose from the seat she had taken at the table, fed up with the man's silence. She bended her water out of her pouches and into a very sharp dagger like shape, holding it at the man's throat, his smirk quickely faded.

"You better start talking unless you want to die slowly and painfully," Katara said murderously, pressing the ice closer to the man's throat, drawing blood, from a small incision she had just made. The man grunted as Katara pushed it even closer,

"So what's it going to be?" She asked. The man still kept quiet. Katara sighed in frustration at the man, lifting the dagger from his neck, and moved the point of it, down to where his heart was. Toph could feel his heart beating faster and faster, she knew that he was going to crack any minute, so she smiled to herself, and relaxed into one of the seats waiting for the moment when he would.

"I will ask you one more time. Where are our children?" Katara asked him, furious and annoyed at the man that was stood in front of her, but he still didn't reply. Katara raised the dagger ready to plunge it into the low life's miserable chest.

"WAIT!" He cried. Katara lowered the dagger looking at him expectantly.

"Your children are in a secret base underground," The man said breathlessly,

"Where?" Haru asked through gritted teeth, as he came to stand next to Katara.

"On an Island called, Gulangyu Island, but it's heavily guarded." He replied. Everyone looked to Toph who evaluated the man for a moment before saying,

"He's telling the truth."

"Where is this island?" Aang asked him,

"It's in between the Northern water tribe, and the Earth Kingdom," He replied,

"Zuko, you got a map?" Sokka asked, as he looked to Zuko,

"Yeah, sure," He replied, nodding to one of the guards. The guard came back five minutes later, holding a long rolled up piece of parchment. He handed it to Zuko, who handed it to Sokka.

Sokka rolled the map out, on the table, and inspected it closely.

"Here," He pointed his finger, so that is rested just underneath a small Island.

"It's about a 4 hour trip, but we'll be taking a lot of troops so it could be longer," He added.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning," Aang said, as everyone one in the room agreed with him. Zuko turned to three of his guards,

"Have this man sent to the highest security prison in the Southern Water Tribe, tell them under no circumstances is he to be freed, by request of the Firelord," Zuko said.

Zade made sure the guards had got hold of the man, before bending the metal around him back to the floor, watching smugly, as they dragged him off.

"Why the southern Water Tribe?" Suki asked confused,

"Because it is the furthest place away from their base, and it is completely made of ice, so even if he did escape, he would be helpless without the use of his Earthbending,"

"Nice going," Sokka complimented him,

"We better get some rest, I have a feeling it's going to be a long day tomorrow," Katara said, as she took he sons hand, leading him out of the room.

Prison cell – Tia and Kaiya

Kaiya shivered, the thin blue silk night gown she had been kidnapped in was hardly keeping her warm.

"Here," Tia said, handing her the only blanket that had been left for them

"Thanks," she replied wrapping it around herself. They sat in silence before a question that hadn't crossed Kaiya's mind, suddenly came into her head.

"What do you think were here for anyway? And why us?" She said. Tia looked at her confused,

"What do you mean?" she asked,

"Well there has to be some sort of connection, and a reason for them to kidnap us," She replied.

"Well maybe they just want us, so they can get money out of our parents, you know hold us ransom," Tia explained,

"On the contrary, it's quite the opposite," A female voice said, scaring Tia and Kaiya, since they hadn't heard her come in. The woman stood in front of them, smiling wickedly, with two Dai-Li agents stood behind her. Kaiya had never seen the woman that stood in front of her before, but she realised that this must have been the one, that had burnt Tia's arm.

"My, my, the Avatar's daughter aren't I lucky. I see he married that Water Tribe peasant after all, you look a lot like her," The woman smirked,

"How dare you talk about my mother that way," Kaiya spat at her, as she struggled to stand up, Tia trying to pull her back down frantically,

"Kaiya don't," Tia whispered to her,

"You should take your friends advice before you do something you'll regret," She said to Kaiya, eyes glinting, before she turned and headed for the door. Kaiya smiled,

"I can see why you were locked up, psychopathic bitches like you shouldn't even be allowed to live" Kaiya shouted, pulling at her chains, and stopping Azula dead in her tracks, before she turned to look at her.

"I know exactly who you are, Azula the exiled princess of the Fire nation. My mother and Zuko did the whole world a favour by defeating you, and sending you to jail." She added. By this point, Azula's smirk had disappeared, her expression filled with pure hatred, as Kaiya reminded her of her defeat, all those years ago.

She waved her hand to the Dai-Li, and then toward Kaiya. They walked up to her and punched her hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her, as Azula sent a stream of blue fire, directly at Kaiya's outstretched left leg. Kaiya screamed in agony, as tears started to trickle down her cheeks.

"Shut her up!" Azula ordered through gritted teeth, before she stormed out of the cell.

Tia watched in shock, before her whole body started to shake with anger. She stood up, and bended the earth, (that she knew the men had encased around their fists), off there hands, forming them into mini boulders, and sending one each into the backs of the Dai-Li's heads, knocking them out cold.

Tia grabbed the keys from one of the men's belts, and undid her chains, before proceeding to undo Kaiya's. She helped Kaiya up off the floor, and leant her against one of the wall's, before diverting her attention back to the men.

"Let's see how you like this," She spat, as she shackled them to the wall.

"What now?" Kaiya asked, wincing at her newly received injuries.

Tia poked her head out of the cell to make sure the coast was clear, before going back to help Kaiya, out of the cell, locking the door behind her.

"Were underground," Tia gasped, as she realised the walls were made of earth.

"Can you Earthbend us out of here?" Kaiya whispered back to her,

"Let me see," Tia mumbled. She walked over to the wall, placing her hands on it, and closing her eyes,

"Not a problem, but your going to have to do some Waterbending,"

"Why," Kaiya asked,

"Because this entire tunnel is underwater, I can Earthbend a hole in the ceiling, for us to climb into, just give me a sec." Tia Earthbended a small hole in the ceiling, that was big enough for the two of them, then bended a pillar of earth up to the hole to get in. She returned everything back to normal, before sealing the hole closed.

"Are you ready? I'm going to bend us up to the surface, but you'll have to keep a bubble of air around us, while I carry you" Tia said to Kaiya.

"Wait, what happens after we get out?" Kaiya asked,

"We have to stay underwater for as long as we possibly can, until I can feel that we are a safe distance away from this wretched place." Tia replied. Kaiya exhaled,

"Right, I'm ready," She said, as Tia bought them to the surface.

Zuko's Ship

"How much longer?" Aang asked Sokka,

"About another hour and a half," he relied, looking at the map, with his hand to his chin.

"Where are the kids?" Haru asked no one in particular.

"They're up on deck, with Suki, Katara, Mai, Toph, and the other Kyoshi warriors," Zuko replied, as he leant against the wall, next to Sokka. A knock sounded at the door,

"Sir, I'm sorry for the intrusion, but the captain would like to see you on deck," One of his guards said, as he stood in the doorway,

"I'll be right there," Zuko said, pushing himself of the wall, so he was stood up straight, and followed the guard to the deck. Sokka looked to the other two, before following Zuko, Aang and Haru following behind him.

Tia and Kaiya

Tia and Kaiya were lying on a piece of ice, in the middle of the ocean. After they had escaped, Tia had walked about two miles, (carrying Kaiya most of the way, since she could hardly walk), until Tia could no longer feel the island, and had finally bought them to the surface.

Kaiya had ripped off a strip from the bottom of her night gown, and tied it around the burn that covered the lower part of her right leg, which was dangled over the edge of the ice, so it was in the water. Tia had also ripped a strip, from the bottom of her dress, and tied it around Kaiya's waist, and stomach, (where she had been hit), just to keep pressure on it. Kaiya felt the ice melting underneath her, and quickly froze it again.

"So... you knew that woman?"Tia asked trying to make conversation,

"No, but my parents do, and so do yours, they fought her many times when they were a little older than us, before my mother and Zuko finally defeated her, and locked her up," Kaiya spat,

"But how did you know it was her?" Tia asked,

"Because of how she referred to my mother as ..." Kaiya paused as she exhaled deeply,

"As a water Tribe peasant," She finally said, her voice full of rage, as she tried to sit up, before Tia had to help her since she was too weak, and in too much pain.

They sat like this for a while, before Kaiya spotted something in the distance.

Zuko's Ship

"I thought you were discussing tactics" Suki said, as the men appeared on the deck,

"So did we," Zuko replied,

"What is it that you wanted to see me about?" Zuko asked, as he walked over to where the captain was sitting at a table, in front of a map, pulling up a chair and joining him.

"Firelord, if we continue on this path, we won't reach the island until nightfall," The captain told him,

"And why is that?" Zuko asked him

"Because your highness, the path you have chosen, goes through shallower parts of the sea, not deep enough for this part of the ship, so you would have to manoeuvre around them, but if you went round this way," The captain said, drawing a line with his finger, across the map,

"The waters are a lot deeper, and we would get there in a faster time," He added. Zuko mulled this idea over, before agreeing with the captain to change course.

Meanwhile Zade was Metalbending, with his mother and father, Rozin was sparring with Kuzon, as Mai watched them, giving Kuzon hints and tips on how to better himself, with the weapons he had in his arsenal, Suki and Sokka were talking about strategies, whilst Jade, Sana and Tao were training with the Kyoshi warriors, and Akira was practicing his Airbending with Aang, as Katara looked out over the ocean. She stared at the horizon, watching it as it merged with the sky, before something small in the distance caught her attention, from the corner of her eye.

Tia and Kaiya

"Tia look!" Kaiya exclaimed, pointing to the object in the distance, as she tried to stand up, failing miserably.

"If you rock us any more, were going to tip over," Tia said as she caught Kaiya, sitting her back down gently,

"Relax Tia, we can both swim," She replied. Tia raised her eyebrows, as she looked down to Kaiya's leg, then back up to her face,

"Well, you can, but I can still Waterbend," Kaiya said to her, as she folded her arms across her stomach, before quickly taking them off, wincing at the pain she had just caused herself. Tia shook her head, before looking back at the object, which was getting closer before exclaiming,

"It's a boat!"

"Do you think it's them?" Kaiya asked,

"I don't think so, I didn't feel any pursuit, and even if it was, they wouldn't be heading in the direction of the island, they would be heading the opposite way, that is unless they think were still on the island," Tia said,

"That's not heading for the island," Kaiya replied,

"It's heading straight for us!"

Zuko's Ship

"What is it mum?" Akira asked, his mother,

"I don't know sweetie, but were about to find out," She replied. As the ship neared the object, Katara thought she could make out two people.

"Ready the net!" Zuko ordered his men,

"On my count. Three, Two, One, FIRE!" He shouted.

Tia and Kaiya

"Tia Watch out!" Kaiya shouted, pointing to a giant piece of material, behind her, that had come from the ship. Tia turned around just as the net, crashed down over them, capturing them. Kaiya and Tia held each other tightly, scared witless.

"Still think it's not them?" Kaiya asked Tia, her voice shaking, as her mind fantazised over what would happen to them if it was.

Zuko's Ship

"Reel it in boys," The captain ordered. The crew pulled the net on board, dragging it into the middle of the deck. Everyone prepared themselves with their weapons, or got into their stances, as one of the crew members cut through the rope that held the material in place. None of them were prepared for what happened next.

"Mum?" Kaiya said weakly,

"Dad?" Tia added, as they both looked at the people stood in front of them.

"KAIYA!" Katara shouted, at the same time as Toph shouted,

"TIA!" Both mothers ran to their daughters, hugging them tightly. Kaiya winced, and gasped at the pain that shot through her stomach, when her mother hugged her round the waist. Katara backed off immediately, as did Toph. As soon as they did everyone gasped, it was the first time since they had properly seen them since they had come on board.

Rozin ran up to Kaiya, as Kuzon walked up to Tia, to help them up, as everyone stared at them in shock.

Tia's and Kaiya's wrists and ankles, had been badly cut from the chains, they both had deep gashes in their faces, (Tia also had bruises, on each side of her mouth,) and Tia's sleeve was soaked in blood, as was the piece of material that Kaiya had wrapped around her leg.

Rozin saw that Kaiya's leg was causing her a great deal of pain, (so much that she couldn't even stand up), so he carefully lifted her off the floor, and cradled her against his chest.

"I thought I was never going to see you again," Kaiya whispered to Rozin,

"I was so scared," She added, starting to sob, placing her head on his shoulder, as Rozin hugged her closer to him. He placed her on one of the chairs. Kaiya looked up at him and smiled weakly, before gasping in pain, clutching at her stomach. Katara was by her side in an instant.

Rozin supported Kaiya's shoulders, (after she had taken of the strip of material, that was around her stomach) as she leant back, so Katara could heal it. After Katara had finished, Rozin helped her sit up, before kneeling down, to take the strip of bloody material, that covered Kaiya's leg, carefully off. Katara put her hand over her mouth, as Rozin revealed the burn on Kaiya's leg.

"Kaiya, when did this happen?" Katara asked, as she collected herself.

"Earlier on this morning, I think." Kaiya replied, squinting her eyes in pain as Katara placed her hands on her leg. She reached out for her father's hand, who was stood by her side, his expression full of sadness at the state his daughter was in.

Meanwhile Tia was ripping of her sleeve, that covered the burn on her arm, Kuzon sat by the side of her. Katara finished healing Kaiya as much as she could, but she would need a lot more healing sessions on her leg, in order for it to be healed fully. She walked over to Tia, and started to examine her.

"Wow this is healing really well," Katara said to her, as she carefully held Tia's burnt arm,

"Well you can thank your daughter for that, whilst we were imprisoned together she used the water she got, to give me a few healing sessions," Tia replied looking over to Kaiya, who was nodding off, her head resting on Rozin's shoulder, as he held her around the waist, (to prevent her from falling anywhere, and supporting her weight), as Katara began to heal more of the burn.

After Katara had finished, she asked Rozin if he would mind carrying Kaiya below deck to one of the room's, since she was already lying across his lap, fast asleep. He gently lifted her into his arms once again, and followed Katara, Aang, and Akira down the stairs.

Kuzon watched his brother, as he carried Kaiya out of sight. Why couldn't he be like him? How come he couldn't be open about his feelings? He sighed, how he wanted to hold Tia close to him like that, but couldn't pluck up the courage to tell her that he liked her, even though he knew all to well that she liked him.

"What's wrong Kuzon?" Tia asked him, pulling him back to reality. Kuzon looked at her, and then looked to his feet.

"Tia I ..." Kuzon started to say before Haru came over and interrupted him.

"Tia, you need to rest," he said to her softly, holding his hand out to her. Tia looked to Kuzon, before walking away with her father, mother, and brother, below deck.

"I'll tell you later," He said sadly, as soon as she was gone.

Sokka, Suki, Zuko and Mai hadn't moved an inch, since Kaiya and Tia had been bought on deck. They stood in the same gobsmacked state as they had, when they'd first seen them, watching as Katara did what she could to help them.


	10. Reason

Western air temple - Kaiya's room

Kaiya sat up in bed screaming; thrashing her arms around wildly. Aang and Katara rushed over to her trying to comfort her. They had been sat on some chairs they had bought in, waiting for their daughter to wake up.

"Kaiya, Kaiya, wake up, it's only a dream, you're safe," Aang soothed her, rocking her back and forth. Kaiya's eyes slowly opened as she calmed down and woke up.

"I remembered the pain, they gave me, and remembering that I couldn't do anything about it," Kaiya wept, pressing her face into her father's chest, wetting his robes with her tears, (but he hardly cared about that) as he stroked her head shushing her.

Whilst Kaiya had been sleeping, Katara had bandaged up Kaiya's wrists, ankles, and leg. She had also managed to change Kaiya's blue, silk night gown, (which had been fit for the bin), to some of her everyday clothes.

Kaiya finally managed to stop crying, and lifted her head from her father's chest, to look at her mother, who was knelt anxiously by her bed.

"Where are we?" She asked, looking around at her surroundings.

"Were at home sweetheart," Katara answered her softly. Kaiya couldn't recall how she had got there, and looked confusedly at her mother, who smiled at her.

"You've been asleep for two days, you obviously needed it. As soon as we got you back, we turned the ship around, and sailed back to the Fire nation, before flying back here on Appa. You travelled in Zuko's balloon, with the others, I'm surprised you didn't wake up, with all the noise," She added.

Kaiya gazed down at herself; she looked and felt a lot better.

"You're leg will take a few more days before I'll be able to heal it properly," Katara told her, when she saw her staring at her bandaged leg in disgust. Not towards her leg, but more to the woman that had done it in the first place.

"What about Tia?" Kaiya asked worriedly, remembering how Tia had been hurt as well,

"She's still sleeping I think, we haven't left your side since we got here, so you'd feel safe when you woke up,

"Wait, so everyone is here?" Kaiya asked confused again. Aang nodded his head, before answering,

"We thought it the safest place to be, until we figured out what to do next." Kaiya nodded her head once, as her stomach growled, and she realised she was starving, and completely parched. She hadn't eaten a proper meal in days, and the water she had rarely been given, whilst she had been imprisoned, she'd used to try and heal Tia's arm. Tia had then shared what little water she had with Kaiya. She looked to her mother who smiled warmly at her,

"Come on, I'll fix you up something to eat," She said, rising from the side of Kaiya's bed. Aang helped Kaiya up, she put her leg on the ground, before lifting it right back off, wincing in pain, holding onto her father's arm for support.

"URGH, this is so annoying!" Kaiya said, through clenched teeth, as she waited for the pain in her leg to settle.

"Here," Aang said, handing her his staff, for extra support. Kaiya took it and leant on it heavily, placing all of her weight on her right foot. Katara came and wrapped her arm around her waist, as Aang went to open her door. Slowly but surely, Katara helped Kaiya out of her room, before remembering something,

"I almost forgot," Katara said letting go of Kaiya's waist, as Aang lifted her up so he could carry her down the stairs.

"Someone's been waiting to see you," She added. Kaiya blushed, hiding her face behind Aang's arm embarrassed.

Courtyard

"KAIYA!" Tia shouted, running over to hug her, as Aang placed her on the floor, keeping hold of her waist,

"I thought you were asleep," She replied, hugging her back tightly, as best she could.

"I woke up about two hours ago," she replied as she walked back over to sit at the table, Haru had made from the earth. Kaiya and Aang followed Tia to the table, going at a slow enough pace that suited Kaiya, (since she had to hop most of the way), before Aang helped her sit down beside Rozin.

"What was all the screaming for?" Jade asked as Kaiya sat down,

"Oh there was a, erm huge spider, on my bedroom floor," Kaiya lied, as best she could. Jade scrutinized Kaiya's answer for a moment, before she shrugged, and turned back to talk to Zade. Kaiya sighed in relief, as Jade believed her answer, she didn't want to think about the past few days, she had spent locked up in a cell, chained to a wall. Tia of course knew differently since she had, had the same experience, but she kept it to herself and joined in the conversation Jade was having with Zade.

"How's your leg?" Rozin asked, breaking her from her reverie.

"Oh .... Err it's alright I guess, my mum said it'll take a few more days before she can fully heal it, and then I'll be able to walk on it properly," She sighed, looking down at her bandaged leg again.

Katara then came out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl full of food, and a cup of mango juice, for Kaiya,

"Aren't you guys having any?" Kaiya asked, as Katara set them down in front of Kaiya,

"We already ate whilst you were sleeping," Tia replied to her. Aang then walked over to them and stood at the table, after talking to Zuko and Sokka,

"Kaiya, when you are finished, would you and Tia please meet us in the dining room," Aang asked as he looked to his daughter. Kaiya swallowed her mouthful of food, before she answered him,

"Erm ... sure." Aang nodded his head, and then followed the others into the dining room.

"What was that about?" Jade asked,

"I dunno," Kuzon replied, spinning one of his daggers on its tip, to see how long it could last, before it lost balance and fell over.

Kaiya finished her food and drink, and asked Rozin if he wouldn't mind helping her to the dining room, where their parents were. Kuzon looked after them again sadly, and a little jealous, he hadn't had the chance to tell Tia, because she had been asleep, and then when she had woken up, she had spent most of her time with her parents or Zade. He sighed as he watched Tia walk away, and then went back to spinning his dagger, to pass the time.

Azula's Headquarters

Azula was pacing angrily up and down the length of her quarters, that was until a knock sounded at her door.

"Who's there?" she growled, halting her pacing, annoyed with the person who had interrupted her.

"It's Ran your majesty," he said from outside the door. Azula could hear him shuffle uncomfortably where he stood, knowing all to well that she didn't like to be disturbed, especially when she was in a bad mood.

"What!" She seethed, as she wrentched the door open with more force than she needed to. She looked like she was going to pull it off of it's hinges. Ran looked down at his feet immediately, avoiding the death glare Azula shot at him, as she stood hands on her hips in the doorway.

"T-the meeting that y-you asked f-for has b-been arranged. T-the Dai-Li are awaiting y-your commands, your highness," Ran stammered, scared witless, as he could feel the anger of the woman stood in front of him, rolling of her in waves.

Azula calmed herself down, and forced a smile on her face. During the years that Azula had spent in prison, Ran had collected more than 100 Earthbenders to join the Dai-Li, well more like forced, since the other option had been death.

"I'll be right there," She said trying to hold back her anger.

"Princess, what about the children?" Ran asked. Azula gritted her teeth, and clenched her fists, at being reminded of their escape. Ran gulped, he probably shouldn't have mentioned that.

"Send some Dai-Li to search for them, tell them when they find them, to send me a message, and wait for my orders," She said

"They slipped through my fingers once, but I assure you it will not happen again," She added confidently, rage burning behind her liquid gold eyes. At that moment, another one of her agents came into view, carrying a scroll tied with green ribbon. He bowed to the princess and handed her the scroll.

"You better hope for your sake, that this is good news," She said through clenched teeth, snatching the scroll out of his hands, enjoying the sound of fear the man made as he gulped. She tore the ribbon off, and proceeded to read what was in the letter.

"Ran, cancel the meeting, it appears that our plans have changed, we will leave immediately for the Fire Nation palace." She said. Ran couldn't tell if her mood had lifted or not, but didn't wait around to find out. He and the other agent bowed and left her, as an evil smile spread across her face, partially showing her teeth.

Western air temple – Dining Room

Kaiya sat in between her mother and father, as Tia sat in between hers.

"So lets get straight to the point," Sokka said, when everyone was seated,

"We need to know what's going on, and who's behind it all," Haru added. Kaiya and Tia fidgeted uncomfortably in their seats.

"I think you already know who's behind it," Kaiya replied quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear. All of them except Tia stared at her confused.

"You know the stories you tell Akira and I, for example the ones where you ended the war," Kaiya said, looking to her mother, who nodded for her to carry on,

"Well, the day I got this burn, was the day the leader came to see us, she said that I looked like you mum, she called you a Water Tribe peasant, and I knew from your stories that she must be ..."

"AZULA!" Zuko bellowed through gritted teeth, interrupting her,

"How could I have been so blind, Azula escapes, then you got kidnapped, how could I not have suspected it!" He said furious at himself.

"But, why?" Suki asked, to no one in particular,

"I don't know," Zuko replied,

"But she always has a motive, a reason." He added. Tia cleared her throat, so she could get their attention. She made sure everyone was listening before she continued,

"Before Kaiya was kidnapped, and after I was burnt, I overheard the prison guards talking about Azula's plans," Tia paused for a moment, she didn't like thinking about being alone in that cell, being in agony, not daring to make any noise, just in case the guards heard her. She inhaled then exhaled deeply, her breath shuddering in some parts, as she tried to calm her nerves.

"They said that she has something special in mind for Katara and the Firelord, they also said that once she had got rid of her obstacles, then nothing would stand in her way for the prize," She added, as she recalled the guard's conversation.

Katara's and Zuko's faces paled as Tia mentioned their names, tears beginning to trickle silently down Katara's cheeks.

"Why would she just want Katara and Zuko though?" Toph asked. Kaiya suddenly froze in her seat, her mind flashing back to the not so polite conversation, that she had, had with Azula, as she replayed the scene in her head.

"Because she wants revenge," She finally managed to choke out,

"Because, you were the ones that defeated her, at the end of the war," she added, staring at a spot on the table in front of her.

Everyone looked to either Katara or Zuko, their expressions filled with fear, as they realised that Kaiya was right.


	11. The siege

Fire Nation palace

Iroh was sat in the lounge playing Pai-Sho with one of the guards, since there was no one else left in the palace he could play with.

"I win again," Iroh laughed as he poured some more of his famous tea for himself.

"Would you like to play again?" Iroh asked the guard, who was rubbing his chin trying to find out how he had gone wrong in the game,

"Sure," He replied. Iroh laughed, and then helped set the board up for another game. The guards and servants loved being around Iroh, because they could be themselves, although they did like Zuko, Iroh was more laid back.

"So may I ask how your tea shop is doing, General Iroh?" The guard asked.

"Please just call me Iroh, and yes my tea shop in Ba sing se is doing fantastic, I get a lot of customers," Iroh replied, as he moved a tile on the board,

"I'm glad to hear it, maybe one day I'll be able to take my wife and kids there," the guard said,

"Yes, and I could beat you at Pai-Sho," Iroh chuckled, and the guard joined in.

"My, my, this is lovely isn't it," a female voice purred, stopping the two men short,

"Who is there?" Iroh demanded, as he and the guard stood from their seats,

"You mean you don't recognise me," the woman said in a hurt voice, as she casually strode out of the shadows she had been in.

"AZULA!" Iroh spat,

"How did you get in here?!" he asked taking one step closer to her,

"Hello to you to uncle, I believe you have met my friends, the Dai-Li, they helped me get in, even though it wasn't difficult," She said waving her hand for four Dai-Li agents to appear.

"It would be a shame to kill you," Azula sighed eyeing the guard, who shifted uncomfortably where he stood,

"I believe your wife and children would be upset, but I'm in a good mood, and I'm feeling a little generous, so I'll give you a choice," Azula casually said, smirking amusedly as the guard in front, took a small step back,

"You can either join me, or you won't have to worry about taking your family to uncle's tea shop." She merely stated, as if the topic of conversation bored her.

"Leave him alone Azula, I'm warning you," Iroh threatened her, taking another step closer to her,

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline, he's seen to much, but my offer still remains," She replied, still eyeing the guard, who shuffled, uncomfortable in the situation she had put him in, but before the guard could reply, Iroh shot four fireballs at each of the Dai-Li, then a fifth towards Azula.

The Dai-Li reacted quickly, blocking all five balls of fire. Azula hadn't even flinched,

"You're going to have to do better then that," Azula laughed, her scarlet lips curling up at the sides, as she got into her stance. Blue flames erupted from her fingertips, and sent them flying towards the unsuspecting guard. The guard collapsed in a heap on the floor, grasping for air, and grasping at his right side, where the fire had burnt him.

"I thought he still had an offer!" Iroh shouted at Azula,

"I decided for him, but since I didn't kill him he can tell me later," Azula replied, smiling down at the guard, as he twitched in agony. Iroh, (blinded by his fury), sent a stream of fire straight at Azula, only for it to be blocked again by her agents.

"You really do amuse me uncle," Azula said to him, as she casually strode towards him, her agents following closely behind.

"Why are you here Azula?" Iroh asked through clenched teeth.

"I wanted to see my brother Zu-Zu, but then I discovered that he had left to go somewhere, and you were in charge, so I figured, why don't I come and say hello to my uncle, it's been what, 16 years ago, after you locked me up in jail!"

"And you should still be there, since it's where you belong," Iroh replied to her. Azula stopped behind Iroh, all hints of humour gone from her face. Now the only emotion was rage, as she narrowed her eyes,

"I'll tell you what, I'll give you an option," She whispered in his ear,

"You can surrender now, or I won't hold back in killing you, as you can see, you're outnumbered." She added, thrusting two sharp finger nails into his back to emphasise what she meant.

"What is it that you want Azula," Iroh asked her, not letting any signs of fear show in his voice,

"You mean you honestly don't know?" Azula said, with mock astonishment. Iroh remained quiet,

"With you gone, or out of the way, then there will be nothing stopping me in taking back what is rightfully mine," She pointed out, as if Iroh had missed the obvious (with he clearly had).

"It is not yours, it belongs to Zuko," Iroh responded,

"Oh come now, when he returns, I think you should be more concerned about his wellbeing, then you should about your own," She stated, before retrieving her hand and walking out the door, leaving Iroh alone with her agents.

Western air Temple

Katara had successfully managed to heal Kaiya's leg, faster then she had expected. Jade had also taught Kaiya her new move, to bend the water in plants, vines and trees. Kaiya had learnt this technique in a matter of hours, but she was the Avatar's and a master Waterbenders daughter, and Toph had taught Tia how to Metalbend.

Since Katara had heard about Azula's escape, and her daughters and Tia's kidnapping, she had been trying master the art of blood bending, using the variety of small and large animals that lived in the temple for her to practice on, so that she didn't need the power of the full moon to help her.

That night, when there was a full moon, she took Jade and Kaiya down to the place where she had been practicing.

"Mum, what have you dragged us down here for?" Kaiya whined, to the back of her mother. Katara exhaled deeply, before turning to face the both of them,

"I've been watching how quickly you are both turning into master Waterbenders. You may not realise it yourselves, but you are way past the level of kids at your age, who are being taught at the Northern Water Tribe, and maybe even a couple of the adults," Katara began to say,

"I still don't see where this is going," Kaiya answered. Katara turned away from them, so her back was towards them, before she spoke again.

"There is a Waterbending move that only I have perfected. Most people who know of this technique, can only do it when there is a full moon, when their Waterbending is at its very peak. But I no longer need the full moon." Jade and Kaiya looked t each other nervously, before looking back to Katara, who was now facing them.

"Blood bending." Katara finally exclaimed.

"So you could ... you know ... control other people?" Jade asked quietly,

"Yes. It's a lot like you being able to control the water in plants," Katara answered calmly, before she went on to add,

"You do not have to learn this technique if you do not want to, and I will not force you to learn it either." There was a moment of silence, as Jade and Kaiya thought about the offer Katara had just given them.

"I've made my decision, and I would like to learn this technique," Jade replied quietly. Katara nodded her head once, knowing full well how she felt, when she had first learnt the technique. She turned her attention to Kaiya, as did Jade,

"What about you Kaiya?" Katara asked. Kaiya hesitated, thinking for another moment, and then nodded her head,

"I would like to learn it as well," She answered, her voice a whisper.

The three of them worked through the night under the power of the full moon, Katara being used as the guinea pig.

"Very good Kaiya," Katara panted breathlessly, as she got up of the ground,

"You to Jade."

The sun had just begun to rise, casting a small amount of light on the three Waterbenders. Katara was amazed at how quickly Kaiya and Jade had mastered the technique, and wondered if they would be able to do it without the moon.

"One more time," Katara said,

"But mum, be reasonable, we've been at this all night, the sun is rising, and we're tired," Kaiya moaned, pointing to Jade, who had begun to nod of on one of the benches, to prove her point,

"Please Kaiya, for me," Katara pleaded. Kaiya stood in silence for a moment before sighing, she couldn't say no to her mother, when she begged like that, even if what she wanted her to do was a little bit disturbing to her.

"Fine, but only once," She answered getting into her stance. Katara smiled, and then stood still in front of Kaiya, as she let her daughter begin to control her.

Dining Room

Zuko was in the dining room, entertaining Sana and Tao with his Firebending, by making little shapes from the flames, in the palms of his hands. Mai was sat in the corner, watching him and occasionally laughing at the stupid shapes he made, remembering how he used to do that to their kids when they were little.

Akira, Zade, Tia, Rozin and Kuzon, were sat around the table, talking about the secret rooms, which were scattered around the temple, and Aang was stood by one of the windows, watching Suki, and Sokka train with each other.

Katara then walked in, followed by Kaiya and Jade who went to sit at the table with the other kids. Katara walked over to Aang, putting her hand on his back, getting his attention, before whispering something in his ear. Aang's expression turned from happy, to shock, and then to amazement, as Katara finished whispering in his ear.

"Kaiya," Aang called to his daughter. Kaiya turned around, and saw her father beckoning for her to go to him.

"Yeah?" She asked, as she walked up to him,

"Would you please accompany me outside, for a moment?" He asked her, when she reached him,

"Sure."

She followed Aang and Katara out into the courtyard, wondering why they wanted her,

"Kaiya, would you mind showing you're father what you can do?" Katara asked. Kaiya frowned at her mother, for telling her father,

"He would have found out eventually," Katara said defensively,

"You can use me again, if it makes you more comfortable," She added, as she tried to persuade her daughter,

"Ok, this time, but please don't ask me again, I don't like it," Kaiya answered. Kaiya got into her stance, taking control over Katara's body, bringing her to her knees, before she relaxed. Aang rushed over to Katara, as soon as Kaiya had finished, helping her up.

"She must have more of you in her; I couldn't even control myself, unlike when I learnt it with Hama, and it took me week's before I could do it without the moon, but Kaiya got it in one night," Katara said, as she got to her feet, Kaiya just smiled sheepishly,

"She reminds me so much of you Katara when you were her age, a true Waterbending Master," Aang added truthfully, as he looked to his daughter,

"I can hear you, you know," Kaiya said, faking being annoyed. Katara and Aang laughed, Kaiya joining in, as her father scooped her off the floor, and onto his shoulders.

The three of them made their way inside, the others completely oblivious, as to what had just gone on. Katara went into the kitchen, t fix everyone drinks, Kaiya went back to talking to her friends, and Aang challenged Toph to a game of four nations, with special tiles made from Earth.

About an hour later, everyone apart from Sokka and Suki, (who were still outside) were sat around the dining room table, laughing and joking with each other. Toph was just about to reply, to a remark Zuko had made, as Sokka and Suki came running in, a scroll tied with dark green ribbon in Suki's hand.

"Zuko," was the only word that came out of Suki's mouth, as she held out her shaking hand, which had the scroll in it. Zuko got up, and cautiously took the scroll out of Suki's hand.

"Why is the ribbon green?"Rozin asked, seen as he'd never seen it tied round a scroll,

"We never use that colour," Haru said, holding up his hands, as if he were surrendering. Zuko untied the ribbon, assuming that Suki or Sokka had already read it, before he scanned through the scrawled writing. Flames suddenly erupted from his hands, narrowly missing Mai's head, as he yelled in rage,

"Zuko, what is it?" Mai asked alarmed. Zuko picked up the piece of parchment that he ha thrown on the floor, before he had Firebended, and gave it to Mai, to angry to say what was written on it. Mai's eyes widened in horror, as she read through the letter,

"Azula has sieged the fire nation palace, and claimed herself as the new Firelord," Mai struggled to explain, as she tried to calm herself down.

"This time she has gone too far!" Zuko said through clenched teeth,

"Does it say anything else?" Aang asked concerned by the look that was displayed on Mai's face. Mai shook her head, collecting herself before she spoke.

"No, it doesn't." Aang nodded his head, as Mai tried to calm Zuko, sitting in silence, as they took in the information, which they had just received.


	12. Unwanted guest

Fire Nation Palace

"Firelord," Ran said as he bowed to Azula,

"You're request has been accepted, the army of the Yu-Yan, will arrive as soon as they can,"

"Perfect, is there anything else?" She asked as they walked down the corridors of the palace,

"We have successfully reconstructed an exact replica of our headquarters that were under Lake Lougai, underneath the courtyard of the palace, as you wished." He added.

"Excellent." Azula smiled,things were working out exactly how she had wanted them to, which put her in an extraodinery, (yet very rare), good mood,

Ran opened the door to the prisons, which were located underneath the palace, for Azula. She strode casually down the stairs, and stopped in front of one of the cells.

"He's still unconscious your Highness," Ran informed her. She smirked amused, before turning to face the cell opposite,

"Well, have you decided on an answer?" Azula asked, her patience wearing thin, even though she had only just asked him, she expected an answer right away,

"I will join you," The guard, whom she had burnt earlier that day, said.

"Good, I'm glad I decided to let you live," She said smugly, before adding,

"Because now, you can tell me where you wife and children are, I believe that we have a lot of catching up to do." An evil, almost wolf like grin, spread across her porcelain face, as she awaited for the information that she wanted to hear.

A House in the higher part of the Fire Nation

"Koru, Lin, dinner's ready," Their mother shouted, whilst she set their dinner on the table. Koru her 13 year old son, and Lin her 14 year old daughter, came into the kitchen and sat at the low table,

"Where's dad?" Koru asked his mother,

"He should have been back hours ago," Lin added.

"You both know what the shifts are like at the palace, but he'll probably be back soon, now eat your tea before it gets cold," their mother scolded.

She poured herself some tea that she had been making, whilst she talked to her children, before joining them at the table. A couple of minutes later there was a knock at the door. Koru got up to answer it, but his mother told him to finish what he was eating. She got up, and turned to go and answer the door, before she froze in her place.

"Hello, Ty lee," Azula said, as she entered her kitchen,

"I thought you were in prison," Ty lee spat back at her. Azula smiled amused, Ty lee hadn't changed much. Yes she had grown, and she looked more womanly, but she still had hints of childlike features.

"Such an unpleasant welcome, to an old friend," Azula simply replied,

"You are not my friend," Ty lee growled menacingly at her. By this point Koru and Lin had come to stand at their mother's flanks.

"Kids, will you go upstairs please," Ty lee ordered her two children. They nodded not taking their eyes off Azula, and started to slowly back away,

"I'd much rather they stayed," Azula said, without taking her eyes off Ty lee,

"And since when were you the boss of me, and my kid's?" Ty lee asked, as she backed away from Azula, and closer to her children, not wanting them to be anywhere near to the woman in front of them. Azula smiled even more at this reaction from Ty lee,

"Since I took control of the Fire Nation palace, so therefore all who live in the Fire Nation,"

"Why are you here?" Ty lee asked, after a moment of silence, as she took in what Azula had just told her.

"I would like, you to accompany me to the palace," Azula replied, as politely as she could.

"We are not going anywhere with you," Ty lee seethed,

"Oh, I'm afraid you have no choice," Azula replied. At that moment two Dai-Li dropped down from the ceiling, grabbing Koru and Lin from behind, making sure they couldn't escape.

"Let my children go," Ty lee said through gritted teeth. Azula's smile widened even further, which was until one of her agents screamed loudly, causing her smile to fade into a scowl. She looked over Ty lee's shoulder, to see what had happened. The one that had been holding Lin, was now in a crumpled heap behind her.

Lin had inherited her gift of Firebending from her father, and she had burnt the arms of the man who had been holding her. Azula smiled at the young girl, before she waved her hand, as two more agents came into view, one of them sending his rock fists toward Lin, binding her hands behind her back, and making he fall over.

"Do you wish to reconsider your answer?" Azula asked Ty lee.

Western Air Temple

"You'll be safe here, we won't be long," Aang said to the kids, as he loaded the supplies onto Appa's back.

"Rozin, since you are the eldest, you are in charge," Zuko told his son, as he helped Mai get into Appa's saddle.

"Zade, look after your sister, and don't destroy anything whilst were gone," Toph cautioned him, (even though she knew he would), before Earthbending herself into Appa's saddle, followed by Haru,

"The same goes for you Jade," Sokka said, as he placed his son on the floor beside her, and her sister, kissing them each on the forhead, and then turning to join the other adults,

"Kaiya, there is plenty of food and supplies left in the kitchen for you, but keep your eye on Tao, you know he's like his father when it comes to food," Katara sighed as she looked to her brother, before turning back to grin at Kaiya,

"Sure mum," Kaiya laughed, as she gave her mother a hug goodbye.

"Be good for your sister, and please do as she say's," Katara said to Akira, who had come to stand beside his sister. She gave them both a kiss on the cheek, and then turned to join her husband on Appa's head. Everyone said their goodbyes again, before Aang shouted,

"Yip, yip," and soared off into the distance. After their parents were no longer in sight, Kaiya led the others back into the dining room, and then went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

About three quarters of an hour later Kaiya shouted Akira from the Kitchen, so he could help her bring in the food.

"Rozin would you mind heating it up?" Kaiya asked as she placed three bowls of noodle soup on the table,

"Course not," Rozin replied, taking the bowls, and making a small flame in his hand, as he placed it under the bowls,

"How do you heat usually heat your food up?" Sana asked, as Rozin handed one of the bowls to her,

"My dad usually does it, he is also a Firebender," Kaiya answered. Sana merely gave an 'oh' in response, as she realised that she had missed the obvious.

"Wow, this is really good," Zade said in awe, with the others nodding in agreement, as they swallowed their first mouthfuls.

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Jade asked her, amazed.

"I dunno, I guess I just picked it up from watching my mum do it," Kaiya replied, putting a spoonful in her own mouth.

"Will you come and cook at our house?" Tao asked, after he had just finished drinking the soup, and placing his bowl on the table. Everyone laughed at Tao, and his love for food, whilst he tried to think what was so funny,

"I was being serious," He said, which only made everyone laugh even more.

After everyone had finished, Kaiya collected as many bowls as she could manage, and took them into the kitchen to wash them up, planning to come back for the rest. Rozin decided that he would help, and collected the rest of the bowls, following Kaiya into the kitchen.

"Need a hand?" Rozin asked, making Kaiya jump and splash water on herself,

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Kaiya said annoyed, turning around to see Rozin smirking at her,

"Sorry," Rozin replied to her, placing the bowls on the small table, watching as Kaiya bended the water out of her clothes. Kaiya turned back to look at Rozin, staring at his muscular form, before collecting herself,

"I wouldn't mind if you lent a hand," Kaiya responded, to Rozin's previously asked question. Rozin smirked again, and proceeded to help Kaiya clean up the dishes.

Fire Nation Palace

"ZHEN!" Ty lee cried, when she saw her husband, in the cell the Dai lee had bought her down to.

"What did you do to him?" Ty lee gasped, as she saw the bandage that covered the right side or her husband, crouching on the floor by the bars of the cell.

"Don't worry I'm fine," Zhen answered her reassuringly, walking up to the bars to hug his wife, then paused,

"Where are the children?" He asked alarmed, when he didn't see them,

"I don't know, they got slit up from me when we arrived here," she answered. The Dai-Li that had accompanied Ty lee down to the prison's, bowed as Azula came into sight,

"Where are our kids?!" Zhen said through gritted teeth, as he saw Azula. Azula chuckled slightly,

"Don't worry they're safe ... for now," Azula replied, as she inspected her perfectly filed nails,

"Where!" Ty lee spat at her furiously. Azula smirked down at her,

"They're with my new friends, the Yu-yan, but that's beside the point," She replied, walking up t Ty lee, grabbing her by the wrists, and pulling her roughly to her feet. Ty lee struggled to get free from Azula's grasp, but her efforts were futile, and she gave up.

"I'm going to have to break up you're little reunion, since I require your wife," Azula smirked,

"You said you wouldn't harm them," Zhen replied to her helplessly,

"And I'm not," She replied, throwing Ty lee to the Dai-Li, who grabbed her instantly,

"But I said nothing about my agents," She added, he liquid gold eyes burning with amusement. She turned her back to the helpless guard, who had slumped on the floor of his cell, laughing quietly to herself, followed by Ty lee kicking and screaming.

Koru and Lin

"Where are we?" Koru asked his sister,

"Somewhere in the palace I think, but I can't be too sure," She replied. The room they were in, had nothing in it, except the door that had been locked, and a few dim candle lights attached to the walls. Lin sat on the floor, pulling her knees into her chest,

"Where do you reckon they took mum?" She asked, worriedly. Koru sat next to his sister, and put his arm around her, pulling her in close to him. He could tell she was petrified,

"I don't know, but they used to be friends until mum came to her senses, so my guess is that it isn't good," He replied, resting his cheek on the top of her head, as she started to cry. Koru wanted to cry as well, but he held it in as he tried to be brave.

They sat like this for a while, until the bolt on the door clicked, and the door creaked open. Four men walked in, the two at the front holding a bow, armed with an arrow, and held at the ready. The other two men stood behind them, their hands behind their backs,

"The Firelord has requested your presence," One of the back men said, lifting his head to look at Lin who's eyes widened in terror,

"I-I'm not going a-anywhere without m-my brother," Lin stammered, choking on her fear. Koru got up and stood in front of his sister.

"The firelord does not require the presence of the boy," The man replied calmly, shooting a glance at Koru. Lin grasped one of Koru's hands. Even though he was a year younger then her, he acted a lot braver then she did.

The Yu-yan shot both their arrows at Koru, precisely pinning the sleeves of his shirt to the wall behind him, aiming accurately so they didn't catch his arms.

"Lin, use your Firebending!" Koru ordered his sister. Lin still sat on the floor frozen in terror,

"Lin, do it now!" He shouted. Lin gathered herself and stood up, but she was too late. The men had already surrounded her, and the Dai-Li were closing in,

"LIN!" Koru shouted, as the two Dai-Li lunged at her. She didn't have time to react, before they both grabbed her arms and wrists, holding them tightly behind her back.

"KORU!" Lin shouted, tears streaming down her face as she was led from the room, trying desperately to pull free from the men that held her, and run back to her brother. The Yu-yan pulled one arrow, from one of Koru's sleeve's, (so he didn't make a run for it, if they pulled both of the arrows out), then left the room, locking the door behind them.

Koru pulled the other one out of his sleeve, throwing it on the ground next to him, before slumping on the ground, putting his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry Lin" He whispered to himself, tears welling up in his eyes.

Appa

Aang and Katara were sat on the head of Appa's, whilst Zuko, Mai, Sokka, Suki, Haru, and Toph, were sat behind them in Appa's saddle, discussing plans, for when they arrived at the Fire nation.

"Azula's got the Whole army of the fire nation at her commands, not to mention all the master Firebenders that work in the palace, and all of those Dai-Li agents, so we'll have to be careful, and stealthy," Zuko told them,

"Aang how long have we got?" Sokka shouted, from the back of the saddle,

"We should be there within the hour!" Aang shouted back.

"This is gonna be fun," Haru said, as he stretched his hands out in front of him, then placed them behind his head, relaxing,

"Four master benders, three great warriors, and the Avatar, all working together again, just like old times," He added. Aang had heard Haru, since he'd said it quite loudly, and muttered under his breath,

"Let's just hope it's enough,"

"Don't worry Aang, you've still got the Avatar state if things go bad, which lets face it, is unlikely," Katara said, as she rubbed his back soothingly, to try and calm his nerves,

"You're right," Aang replied, amazed Katara had heard him,

"This is gonna be a piece of cake," He added smiling warmly at his wife, but inside he knew that it wasn't, and that they had a huge task to face head on, but he was determined to defeat Azula once and for all, whatever the cost may be.


	13. Captured

Western Air Temple

Everyone had gone with Akira to the secret rooms in the temple, (since he was the only one that could open them, with the exception of his father); all except Rozin and Kaiya who were sat together near a small waterfall. Katara had shown Kaiya this place when she was very small, and she came here when she needed some piece and quiet.

"This place is beautiful," Rozin said as he looked round, and then admired the waterfall in front of him.

"This is where I come to meditate," Kaiya sighed relaxed, sitting on a large rock by the side of the waterfall, shutting her eyes to listen to the wildlife around her, feeling the wind as it lightly caressed her cheeks, tinting them a light shade of red.

Rozin stared at her, his mouth slightly agape. She had flawless skin, her dark brown hair hung loosely, just below her shoulders, enhancing the features of her perfect face, and she had cerise coloured lips (ones that only looked like you could find them on a painting), and they were turned up slightly at the corners, as she listened to the songs of the birds that inhabited this part of the temple.

It was only at this moment that he realised that he loved her. Kaiya noticed how quiet he had become, and opened her crystal blue eyes,

"What are you staring at?" Kaiya asked him, looking behind her trying to see if there was anything interesting, (but from her point of veiw there wasn't much) before turning back to face Rozin.

"Oh ... err ... nothing much, just the rocks," He lied, as convincingly as he could. Kaiya bought it and laughed, patting the part of the rock beside her, for him to sit down. Rozin gladly walked over to her, resisting the sudden urge he had, to just pick her up, and hold her in his arms forever.

"Kaiya?" Rozin began nervously,

"Yeah-huh?" She replied to him absentmindedly, her eyes shut again, as she was lost in the tranquillity of her surroundings,

"I've been wanting to tell you something for a while, but only now have I realised that, that something, is something considerably more, then it already was," He responded to her, his voice shaking on a few words. He felt like a complete prat, because none of that made any sense to him, and he was surprised that Kaiya managed to understand him,

"Go on," She said, her eyes now fully open, curiosity burning brightly inside them, as she waited to hear what Rozin wanted to tell her.

"I've known that I've liked you for a while, but only now have I realised that I ..." Rozin took a deep breath, to try and steady his nerves, 'Jeez, this is harder then I thought it would be,' he thought to himself.

"That I love you," He finally blurted out, clasping his hands over his mouth after he had, not meaning to say it quite that fast. Kaiya stared at him totally gobsmacke. She had also known that she had liked Rozin very much, and that she had begun to love him, but she didn't want to tell him just in case he didn't he feel the same, and she didn't want the pain of rejection.

"I'll understand if you don't feel the same way Kaiya, but I just thought you might have wanted to ...." Was all Rozin could say, before Kaiya threw her arms around his neck, and found his lips, kissing him as best she could, because of the awkward position she was in, before she pulled away, and looked into Rozin's shocked, but very pleased and happy face.

"You silly, silly boy, I love you too, and I always will," Kaiya exclaimed to him. Rozin smiled wildly, wrapping his arms around her slim waist, as her pulled her onto his knee, for another kiss.

Fire Nation Palace

Azula sat on the throne at the head of the meeting chamber, awaiting for her agents to return. As if on cue, to her thoughts four men entered the chamber, Lin in the middle of them.

"So your name's Lin is it?" Azula asked the young girl, as she came to stand in front of her. Lin didn't answer her, but scowled up at Azula instead. Her face had lost all emotions of fear, and in its place was fury.

"Come now child, there is no need to be frightened or shy," Azula told her as kindly as she could manage, (Which wasn't very much). Lin remained silent,

"Your mother would be very disappointed in you, If she saw that you weren't showing the proper respect for your elder," She said smiling, knowing that the mention of the girls mother would set her off, and it did.

"Where is my mother?!" Lin said through gritted teeth, glaring at Azula, who sat smirking in front of her, her golden eyes glinting with an emotion that Lin couldn't quite understand.

"She'll do perfectly, take her to the chamber, I'll join you later," She ordered,

"LET GO OF ME!!" Lin shouted, as she struggled to get free of the men's grasp. She managed to burn one of the men, until her hands were bound behind her back, and she was thrown over one of their shoulders, much to Azula's amusement.

After Lin had been carried out kicking and screaming, at the top of her lungs, Ran walked in, bowing before speaking to Azula.

"Firelord, the Yu-yan have spotted the Avatar and his friends on their way here. They have come to take back the palace."

Azula laughed once.

"What a pointless waste of time, I trust that they will not succeed in their task, since I require them for later parts of my plan,"

"I assure you, your highness, we have everything ready for their arrival," Ran answered her reassuringly,

"Excellent, now arrange for the cook to bring me something to eat, I'm hungry," She ordered. Ran bowed again, and then left to do as Azula had asked. How she loved being in charge again.

Appa

"Were almost there!" Aang shouted to the others, behind him, as he pulled on Appa's reigns to make him go down. The rest of them prepare themselves for a fight as Appa descended.

"There!" He shouted again, pointing to the Palace. As it came into view, they couldn't believe what they saw,

"Oh no," Aang said,

"Who are they?" Mai asked, squinting her eyes,

"The Yu-yan, a skilled army of archers," Aang replied to her. He didn't have to shout, since she was sat directly behind him.

"Zuko, I thought you ordered that army to be abolished?" Mai asked, turning to face him,

"I did, but I guess somebody didn't get the message," He responded to her, his teeth clenched in annoyance more then anger.

The courtyard of the palace was jam packed full of Dai-Li agents, the Yu-yan army, and of course, all of the guards and Firebenders that worked onside of the palace.

"AANG, LOOK OUT!" Katara shouted, pushing him out of the way of an arrow, which had been aimed directly at him, narrowly missing it herself.

"Thanks," He said in relief,

"Don't mention it," She replied, ducking out of the way of another arrow.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Aang shouted behind him, making sure everyone was safely hidden in Appa's saddle, and out of harms way, before taking Appa down any further.

"This isn't going to be as fun as I thought," Haru sad to no one n particular, but Toph answered him anyway,

"You think!"

Aang managed to land Appa just outside the palace gates, before they were bombarded with arrows, and blasts of fire and earth. Katara was the first to attack back, jumping of, of Appa's head, and taking control of the six nearest men with her blood bending, making them fight for her. Zuko and Aang deflected as much fire as they could that had been directed at the group, Toph and Haru doing the same with the earth.

"YOU'RE NUMBER ONE TARGET IS THE AVATAR!!" The group heard one of the men shout. Everyone's attention was directed at Aang from then on,

"AANG WE NEED THE AVATAR STATE!" Sokka shouted, blocking some arrows that had been directed at him, then fought off two of the men that lunged for him, smacking both their heads together.

Aang finished of the group of men that surrounded him, so he had some time to prepare himself. The last time he had was accidental, he'd been so angry about hearing of his daughters kidnapping, that his mind blanked, and he wasn't aware of what he was doing until Katara had bought him back, so he wanted to be sure.

He was just about to enter it, before a sharp short pain, shot across the lower part of his back. He felt himself falling onto the cold, hard floor, but couldn't use his arms to soften his impact,

"AANG!" Katara's voice screamed but it seemed so far away. He heard her call his name sgain, and he tried to shout back, but the only sound that escaped his lips was a small gurgle, then he slipped into unconciousness.

Western Air Temple – Jade, Tao and Sana

"Where are mum and dad?" Tao asked his sister Jade, as they watched Sana practice her Kyoshi warrior training,

"They should be back soon," Was the only response she would give him, since this was the tenth time he had asked her.

"Why don't you go and practice your warrior training with your sister?" She suggested, so he didn't keep asking the same question to her over, and over again.

"Ok," Tao happily replied, as he got off the bench he had been sat on, and ran to join his sister, taking his miniature sword, out of it's scabbard, on his way.

Jade had to admit, that when it came to fighting, her brother and sister were very good, they were elite warriors when they trained, (but it got blocked by fear when they were in an actual fight), instead of the silly children they were when they didn't.

Tia had gone off with Kuzon, Zade and Akira, to have a giant sparring competition; winner gets Momo till their parents came back, and Rozin and Kaiya had been inseparable ever since their parents had left, leaving Jade with her two younger siblings.

"Come on you two, let's go and see how Tia's competition is getting on," Jade finally said, rising from her seat when she got bored.

Tao and Sana followed behind Jade, as she led the way, to where Tia, Kuzon, Akira, and Zade were.

Kaiya and Rozin

Kaiya was sat on Rozin's knee, leaning against his chest, whilst Rozin played absentmindedly with a strand of Kaiya's hair. She tilted her head up so he could see her smile, when he lightly kissed the top if her head, and he couldn't resist smiling back at her.

"Kaiya," Rozin said,

"Uh-huh?" She sighed back, completely content,

"I've been wanting to ask you something," He replied,

"What about?" She asked confused, turning her face round so she could see his.

"Just about that night, when you were out with your mother and Jade," He answered nonchalently,

"What about it?" She asked uncomfortably, pushing herself off his chest, so that she was just sitting in his lap.

"I just wanted to know what you were doing, that's all, I mean you were out there all night," He replied,

"You don't want to know," Kaiya answered him, standing from his knees,

"Trust me," She added, as she walked over to a nearby tree, bending one of it's branches into a bench to sit on, looking at her hands.

Rozin got up, and went to stand in front of Kaiya, taking her hands in his, and waited until she looked up at his face.

"Please," He pleaded quietly, when her eyes met his,

"It's not something I'm proud of," Was the only answer she replied with. Rozin didn't reply, but Kaiya saw in his eyes that he was curious, and that he wanted to know. 'How can I resist him, when he pleads like that, I can't, not when he looks so .... I can't even think of the words to describe him' She thought to herself happily, not really beleiving that he loved her. She heaved a sigh,

"Instead of telling you, I'll have to demonstrate, because I can't really explain it," She told him before adding nervously,

"But I'm going to need you to demonstrate on." Rozin looked at her confused, but nodded anyway, seen as he would do anything for her.

Kaiya stood up from her make shift bench, letting go of Rozin's hands. She strode a couple of paces away from him, then turned and took up her Waterbending stance.

"Try to grab me," she said with a sad grimace, dreading what was coming next, and disgusted at herself of what she was about to do, but this was the only way she could explain it to him. Rozin obeyed and leaped towards her. He stopped in mid air, falling gently, flat on his face. Kaiya turned him over so he was lying on his back. Rozin was lying on the ground, ram rod straight, arms by his side, legs together, twitching every now and then, until his form relaxed. Kaiya ran over to help him up,

"What was that?" He asked, as Kaiya helped him stand up, before sitting him down on her tree bench, then she turned her back to face away from him,

"Blood bending," She said, Rozin's eyes widening at the words, in a sort of amazed yet freaked out way.

"I'm so sorry Rozin, I should never have done that," She added, before she felt Rozin's arms wrap tightly around her waist, and his lips against her ear,

"Don't be, I'll always love you, no matter what you can and can't do, and don't you ever forget that," He whispered to her sweetly. She turned around in his arms, so that she was facing him,

"The same applies to you," She replied, standing on her tip toes, so that she could reach his lips, as he took hers more tha willingly.

"Looks like we've caught ourselves a couple of love birds," A man's voice rang out, making the both of them jump. Rozin pushed Kaiya behind his back protectively, looking around in fear. Kaiya took a couple of steps away from Rozin, so that she could have space to Waterbend, using the water from the waterfall if need be.

"Who's there?" Rozin shouted, looking around for any signs of movement,

"Perhaps a demonstration would be more appropriate," The voice called again. At that moment a net with four arrows attached to each corner, dropped down on Kaiya's head, pinning the net, and Kaiya to the ground.

"ROZIN!" Kaiya shouted, trying to move under the net with no luck, she was trapped. Rozin turned around, and saw Kaiya on the ground struggling to get free.

"KAIYA," He shouted back, running to her,

"NO! WAIT! ROZIN LOOK OUT," Kaiya stumbled, trying her best to warn the unsuspecting Rozin. He turned just at the last minute, to see another net, come crashing down over him.

As soon as they had caught the two of them, Four Dai-Li agents, and four Yu-yan came into view, two other Yu-yan dropped out of the tree, above Kaiya and Rozin; they were the ones who had trapped Kaiya, and had seen and heard eveything between Kaiya and Rozin.

"How sweet, young love," One of the men said, the same one that had spoken before. The two Yu-yan that had dropped down from the tree, took the net off Kaiya, but made sure they had her wrists firmly in their grip, so that she couldn't escape. The man who had spoken walked up to her and took her chin in his hand,

"My you are a beauty aren't you?" The man said gently, turning Kaiya's face from side to side. Kaiya shot a scared glance at Rozin, who was staring at the man holding her chin furiously. The man turned and smirked at him, then turned back to Kaiya,

"You're boyfriend doesn't seem to like me doing this," He laughed softly. Kaiya snatched her chin out of his hand,

"He's not the only one!" She growled at him, which only made him laugh even more.

The other kids

"I believe I get Momo," Zade announced, holding his arm out for Momo to sit on, after beating Kuzon. Kuzon walked over to where the others were sitting, rubbing his shoulder on the way there, muttering something incoherent,

"It was a lucky shot!" Akira called to him, Zade just smirked,

"Well to be fair, you were the hardest one out of the lot to beat," Zade said to Akira, who laughed,

"What can I say, I'm the son of the Avatar," He replied grinning, pretending to be his father making Zade double over in laughter.

Tia suddenly jumped up, keeping one hand on the ground,

"What's up Tia?" Kuzon asked, alarmed at the way she had just reacted. Tia said nothing, but just pointed in the direction, of two darkly cloaked men,

"I thought you creeps would have learnt the first time, we kicked your asses!" Kuzon shouted at them, pushing Tia behind him protectively, and drawing some of his shurikens, from a hidden pocket in his shirt.

"Now, let's not do anything you'll regret," One of them said calmly, clicking his fingers. One of the Yu-yan came to stand next to him, dragging Rozin roughly by the arm. His hands had been tied behind his back, to prevent him from Firebending, another Yu-yan joined them, dragging Kaiya in the same condition, before they pushed them hard on the shoulder, causing them to both fall to their knee's side by side.

"I'm not sure you're friends would like it," He added walking up behind Kaiya, placing his hand on her shoulder. Kaiya shuddered and jerked away from his touch, and closer to Rozin.

Tia smiled as she got into her stance.

"What are you doing, are you crazy?!" Zade whispered to her, not daring to move from his position. Kuzon turned to look at her, but quickly turned back to watch the group of men in front of them.

"No, watch," Was all she replied. She moved swiftly bending the earth underneath, Kaiya and Rozin into pillars, and away from the men.

"JADE!" She shouted. Jade immediately sprang into action, bending the vines on the floor, around the men's ankles, so they couldn't move, whilst Tia bought Kaiya and Rozin towards them.

As soon as Tia, put them back on the ground, Kuzon cut the ropes that bound their wrists with one of his daggers. After Kaiya had been freed, she stood up and inhaled, getting into her stance. All nine men in front of her went rigid, as she took control over them, focusing to keep her concentration going, as she pulled them towards where the kids stood.

Since it was still day time, and Jade couldn't use the same technique without the full moon, Kaiya was on her own for the moment. Everyone, stared at her in shock, fear, and amazement, even Rozin and Jade who had already seen this, but it was more because of the amount of power she had summoned up, to control all of them. But Kaiya had missed one of the Yu-yan, who was hidden in one of the trees.

He fired two arrows, accurately at Kaiya, pinning her sleeves to the ground, breaking her concentration, so that she couldn't move or fight anymore. Unluckily for the others, Kaiya had dragged them closer to where the kids were standing, and after they regained control of themselves, they took advantage of the smaller gap she had created.

Kaiya watched helplessly, as each one of her friends were taken down, and when it came to her brother and Rozin, she turned away; she couldn't bear the pain at watching them get taken down as well, not if it was going to be the same way as the others.

Each one of them got dragged off by a different person, each one unconscious, hands tied, leaving two men left. Kaiya watched, tears streaming down her face, until it was her turn. They pulled the arrows out of the ground, but kept tight hold of her wrists, so that she couldn't bend. She managed to get one of her hands free, and punched one of them in the face, before he got hold of it again and tied them behind her back, just like the others.

"We warned you not to try anything stupid," One of the men said.

"You should have followed our advice," The other added.

"If you do anything to harm them, I swear I will hunt you down, and kill you," She seethed furiously.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that, well not where you're going anyway, but for now you're going to take a nice long sleep, so you're not going to be any nuisance to us." He replied to her. Kaiya felt something sharp, penetrate the skin on her arm. She was about to make a remark to the man, before her surroundings spun, and she blacked out.

"How much did you give her," one of the Dai-Li asked one of the Yu-yan, as he slung Kaiya's limp body over his shoulder,

"Just enough, till we get on board, she should come around at about that time," He replied, as he finished tying Kaiya's ankles, just in case she woke up earlier, and started to kick off, (literally).

"I'm sure Firelord Azula will be impressed with this one," The Dai-Li agent laughed before adding,

"Especially after she's been changed."

The Yu-yan nodded in agreement, following the other man out of the Western Air Temple, and onto their war balloon.


	14. Beleive what they tell you

Prison in the Fire Nation Palace

Katara was sat on the floor of a cell with Aang's head in her lap. He was still out cold from the impact his head had, had on the courtyard floor. She had managed to bandage up the wounds two arrows had left in his lower back, with parts of her robes. Katara had awoken a few hours earlier, tending to the wounds on her left arm; the Yu-yan had left to stop her from bending.

Sokka, Suki, Mai, and Zuko, were still unconscious, lying motionless on the ground, of the same cell, they men had made quick work of taking them down after Katara.

Haru was cradling a very weak Toph in his arms, in a wooden opposite Katara's. Toph had suffered the worst of all of them. She had been the last one to fall, taking hit after hit, from whatever came at her, as she tried to protect the others.

"How is she?" Katara asked Haru,

"I can't tell, all I know is that she's weak," He replied,

"She'll be ok, she's a very strong fighter," Katara reassured him,

"Yes, but I don't know if she's strong enough to pull through this," He told her sadly as his expression fell.

They sat in silence again, cradling the ones they loved, Katara wishing she could be with Toph to help her.

About half an hour later, Sokka stirred and woke up, squinting his eyes in pain, as his head pounded with his every heart beat. It took him a while to fully come round. As soon as his vision became clearer and less blurry, he spotted Suki on the floor,

"Suki!" He shouted, crawling over to her. He lifted her limp body off the ground, and held her tightly in his arms.

"She should come round soon," Katara reassured her brother, and like Katara said, Suki came round in about 10 minutes after Katara had said, as did Zuko and Mai.

After everyone was fully awake, and aware of what was going on, all except Aang and Toph, a woman in a red robe came down the stairs, that led to the prison's, to stand outside the cell of Haru and Toph, along with two of the palace's imperial guards.

"What do you want?!" Haru spat at her,

"My name is Min, I work here as one of the healers, I'm here to help you're..." The woman trailed off, not sure if Toph was in any relation to him,

"She's my wife," Haru replied more calmly, picking up on the woman's hesitation, as she tried to figure out what relationship Toph had with him.

Min smiled slightly as she unlocked the cell door, letting the guards go in first, so they could get Haru, to stop him from escaping, while the woman examined Toph,

"I just hope the kids are okay," Katara whispered to herself.

Throne Room – Azula

"Firelord, the girl is ready to see you," Ran told her,

"Send her in," Azula ordered,

"I want to see what you think of my little experiment," She added turning to look at Ty Lee, who was stood under her, in the arms of two of the palace's guards.

A few moments later Lin walked through the doors, dressed in Fire Nation Clothes that would usually have been worn by the princess.

"Ah Lin, how are we today?" Azula asked, as Lin came to bow in front of her,

"I'm fine," She replied nonchalantly,

"You can stand," Azula told her, as she walked from the throne she had been sat on, to stand beside Lin. Lin obeyed, and stood, her eyes falling on Ty Lee.

"Who's she?" She asked in a rather disgusted tone of voice.

"Now don't be so rude Lin," Azula lightly scolded her, placing her hands on Lin's shoulders,

"I'm your mother!" Ty Lee answered Lin's question, hurt by what her daughter had just said.

"What is she talking abut mum?" Lin asked, looking up to Azula,

"Why don't you go outside and practice your Firebending, with one of the guards," Azula told her, not taking her eyes of Ty Lee's gobsmacked expression,

"Okay," Lin replied happily, bowing again before she left.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!" Ty Lee screamed, fidgeting in the arms of the men that held her put. She wanted to kill Azula right then and there, for coming into her finally perfect life, and screwing it all up again. Azula just laughed,

"Surely you must remember that the Dai Lee can brainwash people into making them believe whatever they want, and over the years they have figured out how to make this technique of their's stronger." Azula replied, walking back up to the throne, to sit on,

"But why her? Why did it have to be MY daughter?!" Ty Lee shouted, through her sobs, tears trickling down her cheeks,

"Well I needed a test subject, to see if it actually worked, before I moved onto the more crucial parts of what I have planned, and since I had you here then I figured, why don't I use your daughter," She merely replied,

"What have I done to deserve this?" Ty Lee asked, letting the men support all her weight, as she gave up in trying to do anything.

"You left me in jail to rot!" Azula shouted at her furiously, standing from her seat,

"And you deserve to be there, after everything you did, all the lives you destroyed, all the people you controlled by making them fear you. You have no right to be sat up there, you belong in prison, and you deserve to die there, just like your father," Ty Lee replied to her, her voice growing louder with every word, as she found the strength to stand again, watching as Azula grew angrier every second. Not wanting to do anything rash because she needed Ty Lee, and as much as she wanted to hurt her, Azula had to forcefully push the feeling aside.

"Get her out of my sight now." Azula ordered the men holding Ty Lee, through tightly clenched teeth, as she held her anger back. The men knew that if they stayed here any longer, Azula was going to snap, and they didn't want to be anywhere near her when she did, so they hastily obeyed Azula's order, dragging Ty Lee out of the room, kicking and screaming, behind them.

Azula stayed behind to calm herself down. It took her a good ten minutes, before her breathing went back to normal, but she stayed an extra five just to make sure, and then walked out the doo to join Lin outside.

War balloon – Kids

Rozin woke up in a brightly lit room, blinking as he tried to avoid the light from going directly in his eyes. He looked around at his surroundings, when he had finally gotten used to the lights. He noticed that all the others were with him, apart from Kaiya. He also realised that he was sat up, his back straight, against the wall behind him, and his hands tied above his head, to a metal bar, just like everyone else's had been.

'Mum and Dad are gonna kill me!' He thought to himself, because in his opinion he had failed. Failed to protect the others, especially Kaiya.

Rozin sighed, where was she? And why was she the only one that had been separated from the rest of them? These thought's swirled around in his head for a while, as he tried to think of an answer. He didn't get vey far, because his brother moved by his side. He turned to face him, just as Kuzon opened his eyes, and then quickly shut them again.

"Rozin?" Kuzon whispered, to see if his brother was awake, since he didn't want to open his eyes again,

"Yeah?" He replied,

"What's with the bright light?" Kuzon asked, slightly opening his eyes, so that he could just see though a small slit.

"Your eyes will adjust," Rozin told him.

It took Kuzon a while to get his eyes to fully open, but like Rozin had said, once he had, his eyes adjusted to the light and he was able to keep them open,

"What happened? Where are we?" Kuzon asked, looking to his brother for answers.

"I dunno, the last thing I remember was when we were all fighting those creeps," He replied angrily, through clenched teeth, looking to the wall in front of him.

"Where's Tia?" Kuzon asked him worriedly, as he remembered seeing her get taken down,

"She's fine I think, she's still unconscious though," Rozin replied, more calmly, nodding his head in the direction of Tia's unconscious form. Kuzon followed the direction Rozin had nodded his head in, sighing in relief when he saw her.

The two of them remained in silence, as they waited for the others to wake up, Rozin returning to his thoughts he had, had before his brother had woken up.

Kaiya

Kaiya's eyes flew open. Where the hell was she? She tried to move, but failed. Her whole body was completely immobile. Her eyes adjusted to the dark room she was in, and she could make out the shape of a large metal ring that was about chest height, in font of her. In the middle of the ring she could see the silhouette of a person,

"Ah, sleeping beauty's finally awake," The person in the ring said, in a low voice, indicating that it was a man. He proceeded to light something beside him, with a couple of rocks. After he had, he gave it a light push with his hand, and it started spinning around, following the shape of the ring. Kaiya couldn't help but look at it.

"We shall begin," The man said quietly.

Fire Nation Palace – Azula and Lin

"How are we getting on?" Azula asked, as she walked up to Lin, who was sat on one of the Firebending guards, with a fist full of fire next to his head, his expression terrified.

"Great," Lin smirked, getting off the guard, who scrambled to his feet, bowing quickly, before pretending he had something to do, and running off in the opposite direction of Lin and Azula.

"Though, I could still do with some more training," She added, watching the guard run away,

"I could teach you," Azula said, shrugging as if it was no big deal,

"I mean if you're willing to listen, that is,"

"Of course I would, I always listen to you mother," Lin replied.

Azula smiled, this was going to be an interesting experience. She had always wanted a child, and now she had one, one that would do whatever she whished, whenever she wished it. A daughter to whom she could pass on what she knew, and tell her how and when to use it.

"Mother, may I ask you something?" Lin asked, breaking Azula's train of thought, and pulling her back to the present,

"Why of course," Azula replied, Intrigued to what Lin had to ask her.

"Why did that woman say she was my mother, when clearly you are?" Lin asked. Azula's smile disappeared as Lin reminded her of the small meeting Azula had just had with Ty Lee.

"Because Lin, that woman is delusional, but she'll be straightened out sooner or later," Azula answered her,

"Now, enough chit chat, lets get started," She added, changing the subject of conversation, and getting into her stance. Lin stood by her side, copying her every move.

Koru

The door to the room Koru was in swung open, followed by his mother, who landed flat on her face after roughly being thrown in. The door shut again, and the bolt clicked, locking it,

"MUM!" Koru cried, running over to help her up,

"Oh Koru!" Ty Lee exclaimed, hugging him tightly,

"Are you alright?" She asked him, checking to see if he was hurt,

"I'm fine mum, what about you?" He asked her, concerned, because of the way she had been thrown in here,

"I'm fine sweetheart," She replied, getting to her feet,

"Where's Lin, have you seen her, those men came and took her away and I haven't seen her since," Koru said frantically, speaking so fast that some of his words got merged together, but Ty Lee was able to understand him,

"No, I haven't seen your sister," She lied,

"But I have seen your father," She told him, to try and brighten up the expression that was on his face,

"Is he alright?" Koru asked,

"He should be fine, he's a strong man, and he can take of himself," She replied, holding back the tears, that were about to follow.

"So ... What now?" Koru asked, after a pause of silence. Ty Lee went to sit against one of the walls, placing her head in her hands,

"I honestly don't know Koru," She whispered, shaking her head, her hands moving with it. Koru went to sit beside his mother, and tried to comfort her,

"It's gonna be fine," He lied, because he knew his mother was hiding something from him, something that wasn't fine at all.

The balloon – Kids

Everyone was awake now, and Jade was trying to comfort her younger brother and sister, telling them that it was going to be okay, and that they shouldn't be scared.

"Where do you reckon were going?" Zade asked, no one in particular,

"I don't know, but I do know that were airborne," Akira replied,

"How do you know that?" Kuzon asked in disbelief, because he couldn't feel them moving anywhere,

"Years of flying on Appa, and I am an Airbender," Akira answered him. Rozin was the only one out of them, all who remained silent,

"Come on bro, I'm sure she'll be fine," Kuzon told him, as reassuringly as he could possibly manage,

"Suppose," Rozin muttered,

"I know Kaiya better then anyone else, and she won't give up on anything without a fight, I mean she is my sister after all," Akira exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood. Rozin turned his head to look at Akira, who gave him a reassuring smile. Rozin smiled back half heartedly.

"Tia, Zade!" Kuzon suddenly exclaimed,

"What?" They both replied at exactly the same time,

"You two are Metal benders right? Couldn't you bend the bar or something?" He asked them,

"Well yeah, we would love to, but unfortunately our hands can't reach it," Zade replied, as Tia demonstrated,

"There goes that idea," Jade said, after getting excited, and then being disappointed.

"Someone's coming," Akira announced his voice a monotone. Everyone listened, especially Rozin, and sure enough they heard footsteps approaching.

They stared at the door, waiting for whoever it was to open it. The footsteps ceased to a halt, outside the door, making everyone listen even more closely. They waited as the lock clicked, and the door slowly creaked open.

It was Kaiya, but something wasn't right. She was dressed in Fire Nation clothes that would be worn by a princess, her shoulders were slumped forward, her head was hung down, letting her long dark hair fall over her face and shoulders, and she was swaying slightly from side to side.

"Kaiya?" Akira asked quietly, not entirely sure if this was the same girl as his sister. As soon as he had said her name her head snapped up, tilting in the direction of Akira, who was staring at her in complete shock.

Akira also noticed that her eyes were not her usual shade of blue, they had a sort of misty coloured grey in them, and her lips had been painted a deep red, which were curled up evilly at the corners.

She turned her gaze away from Akira, and scowered the rest of them until she found the one that she was looking for. Rozin. She smiled, as she got into her Waterbending stance,

"Kaiya what are you waiting for?" One of the Dai Li asked, as he came up behind her,

"I want to enjoy this," She replied maliciously to him, turning her attention back to Rozin, who had a look of sheer fear plastered on his face,

"My mother has given the orders, that she wants you alive," Kaiya paused,

"But only just," She added laughing. She took control of Rozin's helpless form,

"You're, how shall I put this, her special guest," She sniggered. Jade told her two younger siblings to turn away. They did as they were told, just as Kaiya slammed Rozin's head into the wall behind him.


	15. Control

Koru

Koru was sat on his own in the room crying. Two Yu-yan had come in a few hours before and taken his mother away from him yet again. Now he sat alone, not knowing where any of his family was, or how they were. He hadn't seen his father since he had left for work the morning before Azula had shown up, and the only thing he could picture of his sister, was the look of sheer terror she had plastered across her face, when she had been taken away from him.

A slit in the bottom of the door opened, and a small tray of food was slid through it, followed by a small bowl of water, before it shut again, a small click following it. Koru got up and wandered over to the food and water, picked it up, then went to sit back down in one of the far corners of the room.

What he wouldn't give to be a Waterbender, he thought as he stared down into the small bowl of liquid, his tears making ripples in the water as they dripped off his chin.

Garden – Azula and Lin

Azula had successfully taught Lin how to Lightning bend, she'd only had to show her the movements, and Lin had got the rest by herself,

"Maybe one day, you'll be as good as me," Azula smirked, standing from the bench she had been sat on, whilst she watched Lin,

"So ... when will our special guests arrive, that you told me about?" Lin asked curiously, as she repeated the movement again,

"Such a curious little thing," Azula muttered to herself, not loud enough for Lin to hear, then answered her question,

"Soon, the Yu-yan will inform me when they arrive, along with Kaiya." Lin smiled, at the thought of seeing her sister. (Well who she thought was her sister).

Ty Lee then came into view, wearing dark coloured pants, and a top to match, followed by two Dai Li.

"Mum, why is that woman here?" Lin whispered to Azula whist she glared at the woman.

"Because she works for me now, don't you Ty Lee," Azula answered Lin's question, whilst asking Ty Lee one. Ty Lee merely bowed in response, as did the Dai Li. Lin felt uncomfortable when she heard the woman's name, having never heard in before. She felt like she knew her, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and ignored it.

Two Yu-yan came up behind them, and nodded to Azula, who smirked.

"Lin, why don't you train with Ty Lee for a while, whilst I go and attend to our guests," She said, Lin didn't reply but just nodded her head. Azula gave a sharp glance in Ty Lee's direction, and then followed the Yu-yan out of the garden.

Lin watched Azula as she disappeared into the palace, then turned to face Ty Lee, who was staring at her, her head tilted to one side,

"Let's get this over with," Lin sighed, getting into her stance. Ty Lee hadn't moved she only stared. Lin waited for her to strike, and when she didn't, Lin's impatience got the better of her, and she sent a blast of lightning toward her. Ty Lee jumped in the air, with a forward summersault, landing next to Lin. She hit her in both arms twice, making them go limp, and causing Lin to fall flat on her face,

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" Lin screamed at her, as two Fire Nation guards came to help her up,

"Firelord Azula said to train, and this is how I fight," Ty Lee replied to her calmly,

"Your arms should be back to normal in about half an hour," She added.

"WHAT?!" Lin bellowed furiously,

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" She added just as loudly,

"Don't worry, we can train again when you can feel them," She answered, bowing, and then turned her back to her, and walked in the direction of the courtyard. Lin stared after her in disbelief, at the woman's attitude towards her, and she was completely and utterly furious at her.

"Princess, where would you like to go?" One of the guards asked her,

"I would like you to let go of me first," She said annoyed, she didn't like feeling incapacitated. The guards obeyed Lin and let her go, only to have to catch her again, before she fell on the floor.

"Urgh!" Lin sighed annoyed,

"Fine, please help me to my room," She said, to the men as they bought her to her feet. The guards did as she asked, and walked Lin slowly to her room.

Palace Prison

Aang had woken up about four hours after one of the healers, had finished trying to help Toph as much as she could. Haru still held Toph in his arms, she was awake, but she was still very weak, and in a serious amount of pain. Haru helped her, as she tried to sit up, keeping tight hold of her waist, just in case she didn't have the strength to hold her self up, which he knew all to well she wouldn't be able to.

"Katara, did that woman say when she would be back?" Toph asked her, her voice quiet and croaky. Katara wasn't able to hear her, so Haru had to repeat it for her. Katara shook her head sadly,

"I wish I could help though," She replied, knowing how much pain Toph must be in. Toph leant back on Haru's chest, letting him support all her weight. Aang who had been pacing the length of the cell, sat down next to Katara,

"It's no use, there's no way we can get out," He sighed,

"There's always hope," Mai said quietly,

"Even if we do manage to escape, we'll be right back in here, because of all those guards Azula has, and not to mention some of us aren't in the best shape for another fight," Sokka told her, not meaning to say it quite that loud,

"That's exactly my point," Aang replied sadly, putting his arm round Katara, when she rested her head on his shoulder. Zuko had been sat with his legs held to his chest, and his chin resting on the top of them. He hadn't spoken since he had woken up.

"Zuko, what's bothering you?" Suki asked, since she had been watching Zuko for a while. Zuko looked up at her,

"I have no idea where my uncle is, he was watching the palace whilst I was at the western air temple, and then Azula came, so I don't know what she did with him," He answered her, looking down to his knees, a single tear rolled down his cheek. His mentor, and the man who was more like a father to him, more than his own dad, was missing, and he didn't want to think of the other alternative.

No one had heard Azula come down the stairs, not until she spoke that is,

"That's an easy one," She said. Zuko raised his head and glared up at her,

"He's right here," She added, pointing to a cell opposite theirs, in the corner of the large room, and sure enough there was a figure lying towards the back of the cell,

"Uncle?" Zuko asked, loud enough that Iroh should be able to hear it,

"He can't hear you, he's not awake," Azula told him, smirking at his expression,

"What did you do to him?!" Zuko asked through clenched teeth,

"*_sigh_* The Yu-yan have invented a special type of potion over the years that keeps people in a sleep like state, they measure up the doses very carefully, so that it isn't enough to kill them, and so that they can keep giving it to them over and over ... In fact, he should be ready for another dose," She explained, waving her hand to one of the Yu-yan that had followed her down.

He came to stand in front of Iroh's cell, and took out a blow pipe from his belt. He put a small dart in one end, being careful not to touch it's tip, and then blew through the other end, sending it into Iroh's arm.

"Azula, stop it!" Zuko growled at her, ignoring the pain in his left thigh, and head as he got of the ground. Azula laughed,

"Or what Zu Zu. Like you said yourselves, you're trapped here," She said, smirking when Zuko didn't reply.

"Oh, I almost forgot," She exclaimed, clicking her fingers,

"I have a surprise for you all, aren't I generous, enjoy it while you can," She laughed sarcastically, walking back up the stairs. After Azula was no longer visible, a Dai Li agent came down the stairs, a chain in his hand.

Behind him, attached to the chain followed Kuzon, Jade, Sana, Tao and Akira. Tia and Zade followed after them, but they were bound with rope, since they could bend metal. Tia and Zade were thrown in the wooden cell with their mother and father, and the others were thrown in the other cell with their parents.

The Dai Li hadn't bothered to untie Tia and Zade, but they unshackled the chains from the other kids, (Haru could untie his kids).

"Where are Rozin and Kaiya?" Mai asked after hugging her son, the others doing the same. Kuzon pointed to the stairs, just as Rozin appeared, followed by Kaiya.

Rozin's unconscious form was rigid, twitching as Kaiya moved him. The Yu-yan opened the cell next to his parents. Kaiya reached the door of the cell, and threw Rozin in with a little to much force, because he hit the back wall, and then fell into a crumpled heap on the floor.

"ROZIN!" Mai screamed, running to the bars that kept the cells apart. Kaiya's crimson lips smiled evilly at Mai's reaction, as she tried to grasp her son through the bars.

"Kaiya, the firelord would like to see you," One of the Yu-yan told her. Kaiya turned and followed him back up the stairs, never once glancing at her family.

Bedroom – Lin

Lin was sprawled across her bed, waiting until she could feel her arms again. A knock sounded at her door,

"Come in," Lin called. She lifted her head to see Azula come through the door,

"Lin what are you doing lying around, there is someone here to see you," She said, as she sat down next to Lin on her bed,

"That woman you told me to train with, did something to my arms, and now I can't feel them," Lin replied. Azula scowled, as Lin explained why she was lying on her bed,

"I didn't think she'd remember how to do that," Azula muttered under her breath in annoyance,

"Did you say something?" Lin asked, looking to her,

"No," Azula replied,

"Anyway do you remember me telling you about Kaiya, and how I wanted you to see her?" Azula added. Lin nodded her head,

"Well now you can," She said, propping Lin up so that she could see the doorway. In it stood a girl, with long dark hair, fair skin, and crimson painted lips.

"Kaiya," Lin smiled,

"Hello Lin, it's been a while since I've seen you," Kaiya replied, answering Lin with a smile of her own, flashing her white teeth.

"Same to you. How was your vacation?" Lin asked her,

"I can see that you two have a lot to catch up on, so I'll leave you two alone," Azula interrupted before Kaiya could reply. She stood from Lin's bed, and made her way out of the room, glancing at Kaiya on her way past her. Azula had planned it so that they thought they were sisters, and since they thought that she was their mother, she could manipulate them to use their power whenever she wanted tem to.

Koru

Koru laid with his back on the floor, in the middle of the room he was in, trying to think of how to escape. He couldn't use his method of fighting, (which he had learnt from his mother) because the Dai Li and Yu-yan, were to quick for him to even try.

The bolt on the door clicked, before the door opened. Koru was pinned down by two arrows, before he even had the chance to get up. Two Yu-yan walked in, pulling the arrows out of his sleeves, and then tying his hands behind his back,

"Where are you taking me?!" Koru demanded, as they pushed him out of the room. The Yu-yan didn't reply, they only led the way through the never ending corridors, which twisted and turned here and there, until they finally came to some stairs. Koru followed silently, giving up all hope as they descended down the stairs.

Palace prison

Rozin woke up on a cold hard floor, to the sound of a door squeaking as it opened. He looked up to see a young boy about his age, get thrown into the cell with him.

"Rozin?" he heard his mother say. Rozin turned his head in the direction of the sound, looking around until his eyes came to rest upon his mothers face. He felt something lightly squeeze his hand, and he looked down at it. It was his mother, as she held his hands through the bars of the cell, just to let him know that she was there,

"Mum, where are we?" He asked her, his voice barely a whisper.

The boy who had been thrown in the cell with him, walked over to Rozin. He looked down at his badly injured form, and hoped that this was not the same fate as his family.

Rozin felt the young boys hands around his waist, then he gently lifted him up, and propped him against the bars, nearer to his mother.

"Thank you," Mai said to his, as she hugged her son awkwardly through the bars,

"What is your name?" Rozin asked the boy, who had sat down next to him, his voice just as quiet as before. Luckily the boy managed to hear him,

"My name is Koru," He replied, giving Rozin a slight smile, to show him that he meant no harm. As soon as he said his name, Suki's head snapped up in his direction,

"Wait, are you Ty Lee's son?" She asked him. Kou leaned his head around Rozin, so that he could look at the person that had asked him the question.

"You know my mother?" He replied with a question of his own. Suki nodded her head,

"Yes, she used to be a Kyoshi warrior, before she found her husband, and settled down in the Fire Nation. She used to come and visit us, when you and your sister were little, but you probably won't remember," She explained to him. Koru smiled, at least these people were friends of his mothers. Rozin moved beside him before going rigid,

"What's wrong with him?" Koru asked worriedly, when he felt the change in Rozin beside him. Mai looked to the front of their cell, so Koru followed her gaze. Koru had never seen the girl who was stood at in front of the cell doors, who had her hand raised in front of her, and he couldn't grasp what she was doing to the boy next to him.

"Kaiya please stop it, you're going to kill him!" Katara pleaded. Kaiya snapped her head in the direction of Katara, shooting her an icy glare, which shut her up. She raised her other hand in the direction of Katara, taking control of her as well.

"Kaiya please," Aang pleaded quietly, as he held his wife's rigid form in his arms, tears starting to well up in his eyes. Katara's form relaxed, as Kaiya withdrew her hand, releasing Katara from her control,

"Kaiya," Rozin whispered weakly, drawing her attention to him,

"This isn't you, don't you remember?"

"Why should I remember anything!" She spat at him,

"You're saying that you don't remember your family," Rozin gasped as Kaiya out more power into what she was doing, but he didn't give in,

"Not even when those creeps kidnapped you? Or when Azula burnt your leg?" He said, trying to put more strength into his voice.

Kaiya's mind flashed back, vivid images making themselves clear before her eyes, as the memories came flooding back. She heard her own scream she had leg out, when she had got burned, ring in her ears,

"Or the first time you told me you loved me, and I said that I would always love you no matter what, does that not mean anything to you?" He added, as he got control over his body again.

Kaiya collapsed on the ground, clutching at the sides of her head, twisting and turning violently, until she finally became motionless.

"KAIYA!" Katara shouted, running over to the front of her cell, desperately trying to reach her daughter, through the bars. Kaiya stirred, and then turned on her side so that she was facing her mother. The misty grey had completely gone from her eyes, and they were a more vibrant blue then they ever had been before.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered to her mother, and then turned to face Rozin, whom she had bought closer to the front of the cell, whilst she had been Blood bending him.

"I'll understand if you never forgive me, of never talk to me again," She whispered, looking away from his face, and down to her feet as she started to cry,

"Kaiya, were you not listening to me before?" Rozin answered her. Kaiya turned her head back to face Rozin, looking at him confused,

"I said I would always love you no matter what, and you weren't you just then," He smiled at her, and she smiled back,

"Besides my injuries can heal, but if something happened to you, I don't think that my broken heart ever would," He added, reaching for her hand, and she took it willingly.

The others didn't know what to do, they were in complete shock, after witnessing their private moment, and how Rozin had bought Kaiya back.

They heard the door to the prison open, at the top of the stairs. Kaiya struggled but eventually got up, and pressed one finger to her lips. Katara nodded, and hurried back to Aang's side, relieved that her daughter was okay, and a little shocked to have found out her true feelings for the young prince, as were Zuko, Mai, and Aang. She needed to have a few words.

"Kaiya, the Firelord wants to see the boy now!" A Dai Li agent said to her, as he walked swiftly down the stairs. Kaiya turned her head in the direction of the man, and shot him a deadly glare, causing him to stumble back a couple of steps.

The Dai Li Yu-yan, and most of the guards who worked at the palace under Azula's control, were terrified of Kaiya, and the amount of power she possessed, not as terrified as they were of Azula, but she still managed to make them quake in their shoes.

"I know when she wants him," She replied to him acidly, turning her head round to Rozin, who was staring up at her,

"Would you like any help?" He asked her cautiously. Kaiya looked at him again,

"Do you think that I am incapable?" She asked him, tilting her head to the side in disbelief,

"No, I just thought that ..." He trailed off, as Kaiya stared at him eyebrows raised. Everyone else watched in astonishment, at the effect she had on the man. The man opened then closed his mouth, as he struggled for words to say. Kaiya turned to face him full on, placing one hand on her hip, and raising her eyebrows a little more.

"I'll ... erm ... go and inform the Firelord you're on your way," He stuttered, turning and running up the stairs, not wanting to be in the young girls presence any longer.

"Wow Kaiya," Was all Tia said, as she turned back to the cell smiling proudly at herself.

"Why does Azula want Rozin?" Mai asked her concerned, cutting to the chase, and hoping that it wasn't bad.

"I'm sorry, I don't know, but I'm going to find a way to get you all out of here I promise, but for now I'm afraid you'll have to stay here a little while longer," She replied sadly,

"All I do know though, is that they only wanted to hurt Rozin, because he was the crowned prince of the fire Nation, and Azula doesn't like competition," She added, thinking it would be best that she cut out the information, of her relationship with Rozin, and how the men who had kidnapped them, had sort of seen it.

"I guess you're going to have to Blood bend me again," Rozin croaked, looking to the floor. Kaiya looked down at him, she didn't want to put him in any more pain then he was already in, (which she had put him in) she mentally corrected herself.

"We have to make this look as real as possible, if we have any chance of escape," Kaiya replied, pausing to think,

"Give me one minute," She said, and then ran up the stairs. She came back like she had said, (Ina minute), with the prison guard following behind her. She mouthed the word 'sty' to Koru, who nodded his head.

The guard unlocked the cell door, and took a pair of shackles from his belt. He shackled Rozin's hands behind his back, and then threw him over his shoulder. Kaiya had informed him that he was too weak to walk.

"Take him to the Firelord, I will follow behind," Kaiya ordered him. The man bowed his head, not being able to bow fully with Rozin on his shoulder, and took off up the stairs. Kaiya was about to follow like she had said, before Zuko stopped her,

"Kaiya, why do they listen to you?" He asked, looking to her,

"Because, somehow they made me believe that i was Azula's daughter, just like that other girl," She replied,

"What other girl?" Mai asked intrigued,

"Her name is Lin," Kaiya told her,

"That's my sister!" Koru said angrily,

"Don't worry, i'll get her back," Kaiya reassured him, giving him a smile.

Zuko grabbed Kaiya's wrist through the bars.

"Please ... make sure he won't be harmed." Kaiya nodded,

"I promise, nothing is going to happen to him, I will protect him whatever the cost may be."

* * *

_Hiya readers hope you enjoyed, i just wnted to say thnks for all your reveiws and support!!:)_


	16. Sacrifice for love

Throne room – Azula

Azula was sat awaiting the return of Kaiya, getting impatient because of the amount of time she had gone, to just fetch one small boy. She was about to tell one of the Dai Li stood outside to go and find her, when Kaiya strode casually through the double doors, at the other end of the chamber, followed by the prison guard who had Rozin thrown over his shoulder. Azula scowled,

"Kaiya, why aren't you using your gift?" Azula questioned her annoyed.

"If I use it any more on him then it will kill him, and surely you don't want that to happen." She replied as if it wasn't a big deal. She bowed in front of Azula, and then proceeded to take a seat at Azula's left hand side.

The guard who had followed Kaiya in placed Rozin on the floor in front of them, then bowed and walked to stand by one of the pillars in the room, waiting until Azula had finished. Rozin knelt on the floor finding it hard to stay upright since he was so weak, but he managed to find enough strength, and glared at Azula who was sat on his fathers throne.

"So ... you're the crowned prince of the Fire Nation?" Azula asked intrigued. Rozin nodded his head once in response, his jaw tight.

"You're not at all what I expected," She said tilting her head to one side and then the other, as she examined the young boy in front of her,

"Although you do resemble a lot of features of your father, save for his scar, but that can be changed," She remarked, smirking as she watched Rozin's face. Rozin shot a worried glance at Kaiya, who's expression remained calm. Azula didn't miss this.

"Do you know him?" She asked Kaiya, turning her head to look at her. Kaiya did not make eye contact with the woman sat beside her, she kept her eye's firmly on the doors at the other end of the room, as she replied to Azula's question,

"Should I?" Azula looked at Kaiya for a moment,

"No, you shouldn't," Azula answered. She stood from the throne, and walked to stand next to Rozin, Kaiya watching nervously.

"You are a very handsome young boy," Azula told him, her eyes flashing up to Kaiya's face,

"It would be a shame to do anything to that pretty little face of yours," She added cruelly, watching Kaiya flinch at her words. She smirked,

"Kaiya, would you join me?" Azula asked. It was more of an order then it was a question. Kaiya did as she asked and came to stand next to them, watching in complete agony as Azula traced Rozin's perfect features on his face, not knowing if Azula was going to do anything to harm him. Rozin jerked his head away from Azula's hand in complete disgust. Azula scowled and slapped him hard across the face, knocking him onto the floor, keeping an eye on Kaiya who flinched, and slightly turned her head away from them, looking in a different direction.

Kaiya hated this. Azula was putting her through torture and she couldn't do anything about it, not unless she gave up her families only chance of escape, but she would not break her promise that she had made to Zuko either.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to do," Azula said to Rozin, grabbing him by the chin and pulling him back onto his knees before roughly letting go. Kaiya was trying her best to hold back her tears, as she had to witness the pain Azula was putting rozin in. Azula looked from Rozin, to Kaiya seeing that Kaiya was trying her best to hold back her emotions. She laughed as she walked a few yards away from where the other two stood.

"Well since you have been demoted, and therefore are no longer a prince of the Fire Nation ... I guess there is no point in you being here," Azula sneered. Kaiya's and Rozin's eyes widened in terror, and Rozin's face went sheet white,

"No!" Kaiya whispered, knowing what was about to happen next. Everything happened in slow motion to Kaiya, as Azula spun round and sent a jet of lightning toward Rozin. Kaiya moved quickly placing herself in between the two. Rozin and the lightning. She would not break her promise to Rozin's father; she would protect him .... whatever the cost.

The lightning hit her in the chest, just above her heart. She did not scream, she only fell into a crumpled heap on the floor, right in front of Rozin, unmoving.

"KAIYA!" Rozin screamed helplessly,

"Foolish girl," Azula smirked for this had been her plan all along, to see if Kaiya really knew this boy or not, and she did, more than Azula had expected her to.

"YOU STUPID BITCH!" Rozin bellowed at her, tears streaming like mini waterfalls down his face.

"YOU STUPID PHYSCOPATHIC, LOW LIFED, PATHETIC BITCH!" He screamed at her again, his voice full of vengance and at the same time sadness.

Rozin bent down, and placed his ear against Kaiya's cheek. It was cold, but he could still hear her short, shallow breaths, which seemed to get slower every second.

"Kaiya, please wake up ... wake up Kaiya please, don't go ... you can't ... I need you," Rozin whispered in her ear, stuttering in some parts as he chocked on his sobs,

"I love you Kaiya," He whispered even quieter, that he could barely hear his own voice, and kissed her lightly on her cheek.

Azula was never one to take pity, but seeing the young boys reaction to this girl made this her only exception.

"Take her to the healers immediately, and be quick!" She ordered the prison guard who was stood in a somewhat shell shocked state. He knew that Azula was evil, but he never thought that she could do anything like this. He quickly collected himself, nodded to Azula, and then ran to the young girl, scooping her up into his arms, and then sprinting out of the room with her blood trickling down his arms. Azula watched as he left the room, and then turned her attention back to Rozin, who was laid on his side crying uncontrollably, next to a small pool of Kaiya's blood.

"What was your relationship with her?" She asked him calmly. Rozin didn't answer her, he just kept crying, his tears mixing in with the blood next to him. Azula knew that it must have been something quite big, to bring out such a reaction from him, so she said the easiest thing that she could think of,

"Did you have a crush on her?" She asked, becoming more and more intrigued,

"No ... we were in love," He whispered through his sobs, loud enough that Azula could make it out. Why the hell was he telling her this?! She had just destroyed his life, and now she wanted to know about his relationships!

Azula looked down at him; he was completely broken, his spirit crushed, not knowing if the love of his life was going to survive. Surely this was a much harsher penalty than death. She smiled to herself, all traces of pity and guilt gone. She called for the men stood outside to come in. They looked just as shocked as the prison guard.

"Take him back to the prison, and inform him of any news of the girl," She ordered. They nodded quickly and bowed, hurrying Rozin out of the room, not wanting to be in there themselves. They supported all of Rozin's weight, since he was far too weak to walk, and in such an emotional state. Rozin shut his eyes, not wanting to see the drops of blood that had been left on the floor, as they made their way back to the cells.

Lin

Lin was walking through the corridors, trying to locate Kaiya. She rounded one of the corners of a corridor, which led to the entrance of the prisons, then stopped. She watched as a very upset young boy was taken down into them. Lin followed them down, her curiosity getting the better of her. She stayed in the shadows so that she wouldn't be seen. Lin had never how the prisoners were treated, and she didn't approve. She watched as the men unshackled the boy's hands, and threw him into one of the cells. The boy didn't put up a fight, didn't even put his hands in front of him to soften the impact of the fall.

The men shut and locked the door behind him, then headed toward the stairs. Lin pressed herself against on of the walls as much as she could where it was the darkest. She didn't want anyone to know that she was down here where she shouldn't be. It worked, and they walked straight past her. She waited until the door shut at the top of the stairs, and breathed out a sigh of relief, before leaning in closer so that she could her the prisoners conversation,

"Rozin, what's wrong? Where's Kaiya?" Zuko asked him, running over to the bars of the cell. This made Rozin burst out into tears again.

'How did these people know her sister?' Lin thought to herself, making her lean in closer.

"Rozin, what's happened?" Aang asked concerned, walking swiftly to sit by Zuko. Rozin shook his head, not being able to control his tears, as they flowed freely from his eyes. Lin leaned in closer, wanting to know what was wrong with the boy named Rozin, but she leant to far and lost her footing, and stumbled down the stairs, to stand in front of the cells. Everyone looked at her, including Rozin who still wept quietly,

"Lin?" Koru asked, standing up in his cell, pressing his face to the bars so that he could get a better look. Lin stood still gor a moment, not knowing what to do,

"Lin, it's me Koru!" He said as he recognised his sister. Lin didn't look at him; instead she turned, and sprinted back up the stairs, barging through the door at the top. How could she have been so stupid! She mentally kicked herself, what was she thinking, they were prisoners for god's sake! But how did that boy know her name, and how did they know Kaiya.

These thoughts swirled around in her mind as she sprinted through the never ending corridors. She wasn't paying much attention to where she was going, and slammed into the back of Ty Lee, who turned and caught her, before she could make contact with the ground. She stood Lin on her feet, and bowed slightly keeping he eyes on Lin, who looked out of place,, and very, very confused.

"Are you okay princess?" Ty Lee asked her concerned,

"No .., I mean yes," Lin corrected herself quickly,

"Have you seen Kaiya?" She questioned Ty Lee, placing her fingertips on her temples frustrated, rubbing them gently to try and get rid of her oncoming headache. Ty Lee grimaced, but Lin didn't notice, for her eyes were shut.

"The last time I saw her, she was being rushed to the healers," She replied quietly. Lin's golden eyes flashed open, and she stared at Ty Lee,

"Why?!" She asked confused and shocked. She had never thought of Kaiya as the type of person to injure herself,

"I'm sorry, but I don't know," Ty Lee replied. Lin didn't hang around to ask any more questions, she pushed past Ty Lee, and set off sprinting again, but this time with a destination set in her mind, hoping to find Kaiya safe and well.

Prison

Rozin sat on the floor of the cell, his back against the wall. He had just managed to stop crying, Mai holding his hand through the bars. Everyone had waited patiently for this moment, so that Rozin could finally inform them of what was going on.

"Are you okay?" Mai asked him quietly. Rozin turned to look at her, his expression was one as if to say 'What do you think?' Mai looked at him apologetically, as Zuko tried a different method,

"I think your mother means to say, are you okay to tell us what happened?" Zuko replied softly. Rozin nodded his head slowly,

"I don't know if Kaiya is going to be okay though," He told them quietly,

"Why what happened to her?" Katara asked frantically, after Rozin had mentioned her daughter's name.

"When I was taken away, I was taken to see Azula," He said her name as if it were vile poison on his tongue.

"She was disappointed when she saw that Kaiya wasn't Blood bending me, and Kaiya made up some excuse before going to sit by Azula's side," Rozin paused as he held back another wave of teas that washed over him, as he thought of Kaiya. He breathed in shakily, and then continued.

"I don't know how, but she must have picked up on something between Kaiya and me, because she asked Kaiya if she knew me. She said no of course," 'In her own way' He added mentally,

"Azula then stood up and walked over to me, keeping her eyes on Kaiya, threatening to do something to my face," Rozin shuddered, he skipped the part when Azula had slapped him, not wanting his mother to fuss over him,

"She asked Kaiya to join her, next to me ... then she moved away from us and said, 'Since I am no longer a prince of the Fire Nation, then there was no point in me being here'," Rozin looked down at his hand, that wasn't held tightly in his mothers. He didn't want to repeat the next bit but he knew he had to, even though it would kill him (not literally) to replay the scene in his mind, and then explain it to the rest of them. By this time, the others had edged closer to the bars f the cell, Haru and his family leaning closer to the front of their cell, in order to hear what Rozin had to say. Koru was sat with his arm round Rozin, supporting his weight, listening closely like the rest of them. Rozin took another deep, shaky breath then proceeded.

"Azula turned and shot lightning directly at me, but Kaiya stood in between me and it. She protected me and took the fall, and know I have no idea how she is," Rozin finished beginning to cry again.

Katara and Akira didn't know how to feel, they sat with the same expression on their face. Aang on the other hand wanted to know more,

"Where did she go?!" He questioned, his fists balled up, shaking ever so slightly, as he held in his rage,

"Azula told the prison guard to take her to the healers," Rozin replied quietly, looking to the floor,

"She also told the men who bought me down here, to inform me of any news," He added.

Aang sat down next to his wife. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life, and he didn't want to risk using the Avatar state, even with the unbelievable amount of rage he was feeling, because if he died whilst in it, then no more Avatar. He pulled Akira into his lap and hugged him tightly. Akira pressed his face into his father's chest and started to cry. Katara remained in the same position, her expression blank, as she felt empty, her entire body numb. Everyone else remained silent as they took in the information they had just received. Kuzon went to sit next to his mother. Rozin let go of Mai's hand and gave his brother an awkward hug though the bars. Zuko on the other hand stayed where he was sat, he felt like it was his entire fault. He had been the one who had told Kaiya to protect his on, and not let anything happen to him, and she had kept his promise until the very end. None of them wanted to believe the truth.

Lin

Lin reached the door to the room the healers were in. She leant against the wall to catch her breath, she hadn't stopped running ever since she had found out about Kaiya from Ty Lee, getting lost a couple of times on the way there.

Eventually her breathing returned to normal, and she walked slowly through the door. Four healers were gathered around one of the beds on the far side of the room. Lin took one cautious step forward and then another. One of the women turned round and notice Lin, seeing a look of sheer worry and terror mixed across the young girls face. The woman didn't smile at her, she only looked at her sadly, then turned to the other three women and motioned them to follow her out of the room, and leave Lin alone with Kaiya for a few moments.

Kaiya lay on the bed motionless. Lin took a few more steps forward until she reached the side of Kaiya's bed.

Kaiya had been dressed in a beautiful floor length, white, silk gown, detailed red stitching sown into the cuffs of the long sleeves. She was pale white, large dark circles surrounding the underneath of her eyes which had been lightly covered up with makeup. Her lips had been painted a light rosy red that went perfectly with the colour of her skin. Her hair had been styled in an elegant, yet traditional Fire Nation way, and her closed eyes had been made up, making her eye lashes look rather long, and making her look extremely pretty. The dress was V-necked, so it showed the bandages that had been wrapped around Kaiya's chest. Lin touched her ice cold hand, tears trickling down her cheeks,

"What happened to you Kaiya?" Lin whispered. Azula was stood in the doorway watching Lin, then walked to stand beside her, making her jump,

"She protected the one she loved, foolish really, to sacrifice yourself for another," Azula answered Lin's question, looking down to Kaiya, becoming jealous immediately. Kaiya was an extremely beautiful girl indeed for her age, just like her mother except prettier. No wonder Rozin had fallen for her. 'Such a waste' Azula thought to herself, but what better a way to destroy the Avatar's and the young boys life even more, than to take her down to the prison, and show them their precious little girl.

"You did this?" Lin asked in disbelief, after she had put two and two together,

"You killed Kaiya?!""She got in the way, and suffered the consequences," She replied, looking to Lin, and then back down to Kaiya. Lin felt like she was going to throw up. How could Azula do something like this, the monster she called mother. She watched in disgust as Azula lightly stroked Kaiya's colourless cheek,

"Don't you dare lay another finger on her!" Lin shouted furiously, and then immediately regretted it. Azula glared at her, causing Lin to stumble back a couple of steps. She walked towards her, and before Lin could do anything, Azula clasped her right hand around Lin' throat, lifting her off the ground,

"You will never speak out of term like that again, do you understand me?!" Azula seethed, lifting her higher, and shaking her slightly by the throat. She nodded chocking for air, trying to pry Azula's hands from her neck,

"If you ever, and I mean ever, you will end up with the same fate as Kaiya, is that clear?" She asked, still furious, tightening her grip on Lin to emphasise what she meant. Lin nodded again, frantically tying to get air. Azula looked at the squirming teen she held, and then threw her forcefully to the ground. Lin coughed as she breathed in deeply, pushing herself up slightly of the ground, so that her lungs would have more room to expand. She cautiously looked up to Azula, tears falling freely down her face, who glared back at her, her hands balled into fists, and her jaw clenched tightly.

"You are to follow me down to the prison's, and you are not to say a single word to anyone," She ordered her through gritted teeth, still furious. Lin nodded slightly, and watched as Azula ordered the healers, and a couple of guards to prepare Kaiya, and take her down to the Prisons behind her.

* * *

_Hiya I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know that I enjoyed writing it. My next update might be a while, I have drafted most of the chapter out, but I have loads of work from college so I guess thats got to come first ^o^. Anyway i'll try update as soon as possible I just thought i'd give you a heads up._ ^-^


	17. A burning power

Prison

No one had said a word to one another, apart from the exception of Sokka and Suki, as explained in the simplest way they could think of, of what was going on to their youngest children. Jade understood all to well and sat next to her mother quietly. Zade had been comforting Tia who had become close to Kaiya in the time they had spent together when they had been imprisoned. Akira was sat in Katara's lap, both of them staring at the same place on the floor, both of them with blank and emotionless faces. Mai, Zuko and Kuzon were sat by the bars of the cell, close to Rozin, none of them knowing what to say to him, Koru was the same. Meanwhile Aang had been meditating trying to go into the spirit world so that someone might be able to help him, but since he was so emotionally distraught, it was a pointless waste of time. Iroh was still sedated, heavens knows when Azula was going to stop.

The door at the top of the stairs opened once again, and a procession of footsteps came down the stairs, Azula and Lin at its head. Four guards followed along with the healers, the guards carrying a red stretcher with a carefully laid Kaiya on it, who was covered in a thin, see through piece of fabric, something that had been introduced about two years back, as a sign of respect when someone had died.

Lin looked to her feet. Azula was a sick piece of work, and in no way did she want any part in helping her crush these people even more than she already had. The guards placed the stretcher on the floor, beside the front of Kaiya's mother and father's cell, then walked silently back up the stairs with the healers to wait until Azula had finished.

"Kaiya?!" Katara said not sure if this was her daughter, cautiously crawling over to the girl and carefully pulling back the fabric from her face. When she realised that it was, she fell back onto her legs, and placed her face in her hands, tears beginning to seep through the gaps in her fingers. Rozin peered over to Kaiya, and then quickly looked away as he began to cry. Azula laughed, but she was cut short as Zuko sent a jet of fire through the bars of the cell, aimed directly at her. She quickly jumped out of the way, letting the flames die away into the air in front of her.

"You are a sick twisted woman Azula, we should have killed you when we had the chance," He seethed at her. He had blocked her out of his life the day they had defeated her, so she was no longer her sister. Azula scowled at him,

"Be careful Zu, Zu, you are not in the best situation to be talking to me like that, not unless you want another scare to match the opposite side of your face!" Azula snapped at him acidly. She started making her way towards the stairs, then stopped and turned her head round to look at Lin, who was staring at Kaiya, eyes wet,

"LIN!" She growled, causing Lin to jump and rush to her side. Azula left with Lin, leaving the others in the cell with Kaiya, her way of saying, 'This is your last chance to say goodbye'

Aang

I stood in the middle of the cell watching my wife and son grieve over Kaiya, not knowing what to feel. Sadness, guilt and rage all clawing at me from the inside, each emotion wanting to come out at the same time. I turned my head to Rozin, his face looked lifeless, much like my daughters apart from the tears that trickled down his face and dripped off the end of his chin, and into his lap. I turned my attention back to my daughter, my beautiful princess who had died before her time. A brave little girl who had faced Azula and protected the one she loved.

My emotions then made themselves clear. Guilt shrinking back into my mind, sadness only showing through my tears, and rage making itself dominant, conqueror over the others. My tattoo's and eyes flashed white, and I welcomed the felling of power from the hundreds of Avatars before me, as it coursed through my veins running through my entire body. I didn't care about being careful anymore, all I wanted to do was face Azula and even though it went against everything I stood for, I wanted to kill her. I wanted to strike a fist full of burning hot flames, straight through her black heart, and end her life then and there, making her suffer as much as possible before I would put her out of her misery. I could not ignore the fact of what she had done, and she would pay the price for her actions.

I opened my eyes which I had closed during the process of welcoming my limitless power , ready to break through the bars of the prison with only one punch, only to find that my surroundings had changed. I was no longer in the cell in which my soul had been crushed. No, I was in a type of forest teaming with life and energy. I had crossed over to the spirit world.

An old man stood in front of me dressed in red robes, with a long snow white beard and hair to match.

"Roku?" I asked for I was not sure. The man smiled and nodded,

"My how you've grown Aang, you surely have turned into a fine young man" He told me looking down my form, from my head to my feet, and then back up again.

"It's been a long time," I merely replied. The last time I had seen Roku was when I had been 12 years old, before I had ended the war, needless to say he hadn't changed a bit.

"Roku please, I need your help, I don't know what … " Roku raised his hand to stop me, so I did and looked to him confused,

"I know Aang, I know why you are here but I'm afraid that I cannot help you,! He told me solemnly.

"THEN WHY AM I HERE!!" I shouted at him, loosing my coll. Roku motioned his hands for me to calm down,

"I may not be able to help you, but there may be someone who can," He said to me calmly,

"Who?" I questioned my voice back to its original tone. If this person, or whatever it was could give me even one small chance of hope, I was willing to do anything,

"His name is Xun, he was a powerful Avatar way before our time, and he is the one that might be able to help you," Roku informed me, his tone sounded a little disgusted. I bowed,

"But be warned Aang, he doesn't offer his help, unless something in return is given," He added. I nodded my head as I understood.

"Where can I find him?" I asked,

"Hei Bai will guide you," And with that ha gave me on last smile and disappeared.

Lin

Lin was sat in the middle of her bed, her knees hugged tight into her chest with her arms wrapped around them. She couldn't understand what relationship the prisoners had with Kaiya, or why Azula wanted to hurt them so much. Lin couldn't take it anymore she needed answers, not from Azula but from the prisoners themselves. But how? Azula had locked her in her room until she came back, and even then she wouldn't be left alone, for Azula had placed her under 24hour supervision. This was going to be difficult.

Lin relaxed a little, and lay on her side still curled up, trying to think of how she would get to the prisons. She didn't her door unlock or open, but she felt it when Azula sat down on her bed behind her, making her jump. She flinched slightly when Azula placed her hand on her shoulder squeezing her eyes shut trying to pretend that the monster wasn't there, As much as she wanted to jerk away from Azula, and sprint for the door she couldn't, because she knew all to well that the consequences would end up with her getting hurt.

"Lin are you awake?" Azula asked, shaking Lin slightly. Obviously she hadn't seen Lin with her eyes open, so she must have looked like she was asleep. Lin decided to play along, and pretend that she was asleep. She waited as Azula analysed her, Lin keeping her breathing steady, then she stood and left the room,

"Inform me when she wakes up," Lin heard Azula say to one of the guards, before her door closed shut. Lin waited to hear the lock click, but it didn't. 'Yes!' She thought to herself when she realised that the door hadn't been locked. This was her chance, although she would have to wait for a while, to make sure that the only two people outside her rooms were the guards, then she could easily take them down. She relaxed her legs from her chest, listening carefully to the sounds that came from outside her door, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Aang

It felt like I had been riding o the back of Hei Bai for hours, as the spirit ran through the buzzing forest, which seemed like it was going uphill. I had never seen this place before, even with the amount of times I had been to the spirit world, so I had no idea where I was going. I tried as best I could to keep my daughters face out of my mind, knowing that if I thought of it to much, it would provoke my rage even more.

I hadn't realised that Hei Bai had come to a stand still until he grunted, and shook me a little. I jumped from his back, forgetting that I didn't have the use of my Airbending, and landed unsteadily on my feet, managing to keep my balance so that I didn't fall over.

"Tank you," I said to the giant furry panda that stood beside me. It nodded it's head in return, and then ran back through the thick undergrowth, the same direction that we had come in.

'Looks like I'm on my own," I muttered to myself. Hei Bai had bought me to a circular clearing n the forest, this place was quiet, not like the forest I had been in when I had entered this world. This place felt cold and creepy, as if nothing lived here. I looked around, there was nothing in it apart from a log cut from a tree that had fallen down nearby.

"Hello is anyone here?" I called out, checking my surroundings again. No response, not even a rustle from the trees that surrounded this place. 'Well this is pointless' I thought to myself. Why would Hei Bai bring me up here if there was nothing to see? I walked over to one of the trees, its bark was black. Without thinking I automatically reached out to touch its bark, as soon as I touched it, I withdrew my hand quickly. It was cold, it was dead ... it was like my daughter. I didn't have time to react to my thoughts, because the ground underneath me started to shake. It lasted all of 10 seconds and then stopped. 'That wasn't normal' I thought. As far as I could recall there was never any abnormalities in the spirit world.

I got into my stance feeling like a complete prat since I didn't have the use of my bending abilities, but over the years I had learnt to fight and defend myself properly, with the help of Sokka, Suki, and sometimes Mai.

I felt something brush against my back, and quickly spun round to see what it was. Nothing. Okay now I was getting to be a little bit freaked out, 'Relax Aang it's just your imagination, stop being so paranoid," I told myself, repeating it again to calm my nerves, relaxing out of my stance,

"Hello Aang," A male voice called chilly from behind me. I let out a sharp yelp of terror, spinning round to see who had scared me.

A man dressed in water tribe clothes, very different to the ones that were worn nowadays, dark braided hair, and light blue, azure eyes, was sat on the log staring back at me rather amused. Okay this was really, really weird.

"Who are you?" I questioned him, now getting annoyed. I was tired of waiting all I wanted was some help, maybe even a miracle to bring my daughter back to me. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I thought of my daughter again, my precious little girl, but I wiped it away quickly focusing my thoughts on the man sat in front of me. I had no idea that I could cry in the spirit world, so I wondered what I looked like in reality. The man smiled at me, it wasn't friendly or kind, but it wasn't evil, I guess it was somewhere in between.

"I am Avatar Xun, one of your past lives," He replied to me, not moving from where he was sat, motioning for me to sit in front of him.

"Apparently Roku told you that I could help you, am I not correct?" He added. I nodded in reply, and cautiously made my way toward him, keeping a good distance between us, before I sat down,

"Was he right?" I asked, hoping that this wasn't going to be a pointless waste of time,

"Perhaps," Was all he answered with.

"But first I need to know what you seek help in," He explained. I looked up to him, as he stood. I hesitated for a second and then stood as well, I could tell that he was no threat to me. I took four steps towards him; closing the distance I had left between us. We were roughly the same height, he being a couple of inches taller than I.

He placed the palm of his hand on my head, and I passed over the information to him, everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks, leading up to the present day. Since he was one of my past lives, I could share information with him if I wanted to, since we were in some way the same body and mind, but I could only do it whilst I was in the spirit world, and only if I was in contact with one of my past lives.

"Such grief you have suffered," He said quietly as he retracted his hand away from my head, and I opened my eyes. This had been a much easier way of telling him, rather than explaining it in words because that would have taken longer, but it had been a more excruciatingly painful way for me, as I had to replay the memories in my head.

"But I still don't see what you need help in," He added sitting back down on the log. Thats when I lost it. I had just shown him what status I was in, and he still didn't get the picture,

"MY DAUGHTER IS DEAD, MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE TRAPPED JUST LIKE ME, AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT AZULA HAS PLANNED FOR THEM!" I shouted at him, at the top of my lungs. I didn't want him to see me cry, just in case he thought I was weak, but I couldn't help it as tears blurred my vision, and I automatically blinked them out of the way so that I could see, letting them drip off the bottom of my chin. Xun waited till I'd calmed down a little bit, gesturing for me to sit down in front of him again when I had, I obeyed reluctantly.

"As you can see Aang I'm from the water tribe, south pole to be precise," He told me gesturing to his dated, out of fashion blue robes.

"I was happy there, where I grew up, and there were many Waterbenders, unlike today." He said his voice saddening at the end of his sentence. I didn't want to interrupt him, so I waited patiently for him to continue, watching Xun as he looked back over his life.

"I was 14 when I fell in love to a girl named Jia, much like that young boy called Rozin whom you showed me. She was the same age as me and a very talented bender, and we grew very close as we got to know one another. We married at 16 just after I had found out that I was the next Avatar," He paused smiling whilst I remained quiet,

"I used my bending for healing, I was the best out of the lot, even before I found out that I was the Avatar, we rarely had the need to use our abilities for fighting then, but we were still taught how to. My life was perfect as I travelled the world, and learnt the four elements, returning to the southern water tribe to see my wife for the first time in four years," Xun paused again, his smile faded.

"And then one day my life shattered. Jia had gone on a fishing trip with some other men and women from the tribe, she was the only bender that went to help, seen as she didn't have anything to do, whilst I stayed home and tended to the sick. Little did I know that my life was going to change. Whilst out to sea there was an accident with some of the fishing equipment on the boat that they had taken." He stopped again, and looked to me, I had no idea what was displayed on my face, but Xun quickly looked away, and then continued.

"I won't go into any details, but when they returned Jia was no longer with them. My wife had been the only on to get injured badly strangely enough. The others that had been aboard the boat had tried everything they could to save her whilst they returned home, but she had gone before they had pulled into the docks. I only found out when she was rushed into the hut I was healing in, and placed on one of the available beds nearest to me. I did everything I could to try and save her, but I was so enraged and sad that I couldn't concentrate, then it happened." I waited for him to continue, watching as the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

"I felt myself changing, the powers of the Avatars before me became to much for me to bare as I entered the Avatar state, and instead of me controlling it ... It controlled me." He laughed light-heartedly, but I didn't get what was funny, and I began to feel uncomfortable,

"Then what?" I asked not quite getting to grips with his story, and also because I wanted to know more.

"this wasn't like any other Avatar state Aang, it was much more ... thrilling. My eyes did not go the brilliant white that we are both used to, No, they went red," He laughed again. I had never heard of anything like this happen to an Avatar before, and I was intrigued not to mention scared.

"The Avatar as you know Aang is the bridge between my world and yours so where do you think my wife was? ... Your daughter," I didn't answer him because he had made it sound like a rhetorical question, I knew the answer and he could tell, so he continued.

"Whilst in this state, I could tell I had immense power, but I couldn't do anything about it, like I said I was the one being controlled, that was until my emotions became more and more intense I began to take control of this state, feeling what it was like for the first time. As I began to get used to it I realised that I was split in two. Half of my spirit was in this world and the other half in yours," He explained, gesturing to me at the end.

"When I'd been trying to save my wife, I had managed to heal the injuries that she had received, so that her body was completely in tact, and as I was in this state I saw her, the spirit of my wife. I now understand that it was because my hand was in contact with her body, and therefore I was able to see her spirit as it appeared beside me." He paused and looked down at me again, continuing when I had nothing to say.

"Her spirit reached out for my hand, and I took it. She smiled then disappeared. As soon as she had I felt something close to fire surge through my body, feeling like it was burning my hands from the inside. The pain passed through my body to the hand that was on my wife chest. It glowed orange under the palm of my hand, as if I were releasing the burning fire form my body, before it faded into a cool blue. My form returned to normal and I came back into reality, to feel my wife's slow steady breathing under the palm of my hand, and that's when I realised I had resurrected her from the dead," Xun fell silent, watching as I absorbed this information before speaking again,

"I was visited later on in that week by a spirit. I had defied the laws of nature by bringing my wife back to me, so I made a deal and agreed to give one life for hers. I spent years perfecting this talent, no other Avatar has heard this story until now, but they know of what I am able to do" He added, leaning back as a sign that his story was finished.

"But how is this supposed to help me?" I asked him quietly, still trying to register his story,

"I can pass this technique on to you Aang, much like you passed information to me, but ... you must give me something in return," He said calmly,

"Anything," I replied instantly without thinking. If I could bring my daughter back to me, then I would do anything. Xun smiled but this time it wasn't friendly, it was pure evil.

"The life of your first born grandchild, but you will not be able to restore its life,"

"Anything ... Anything but that!" I pleaded, but it was pointless, Xun had made up his mind,

"A life for a life that is my offer, take it, or leave this world without ever being able to see your daughter alive again," He replied darkly. I stared at him, then thought of my daughter, then Katara's, Akira's and Rozin's expressions when they had seen her. Their faces blank empty, it was like staring into an abyss when you looked into their eyes. I'd made up my mind. I nodded to Xun once quickly, who smirked. This would be my only secret.

* * *

_Hiya readers! I just wanted to say that this was a sort of complicated chapter for me to write so if you aur confused or don't get it, plz tell me so i can see what i can do._


	18. Was it worth it?

Prison

"Mum is dad alright?" Akira asked Katara who was still sat by Kaiya holding her icy cold hand, with Akira sat opposite her. Katara nodded to her son, but she was beginning to feel uneasy. Aang had been in the same state for about half an hour, and from what she could remember he had never spent so long in the spirit world. Luckily Azula hadn't come back yet, so Katara had assumed it was night time, but she dreaded to think of what would happen to Aang if she did, taking into account that he was still in the spirit world.

"Don't worry Katara, if Azula tries anything funny I'll protect him," Zuko told her, nodding in the direction of Aang as he watched her face fill with fear. He felt it was the least he could do since he still felt like he was to blame for their daughter's death.

Rozin had moved closer to the front of his cell so that he had a better view of Kaiya, all the while whishing that it would have been him and not her. Toph had become much stronger. Min had been down to see her, trying to heal her a bit more, and she was sat up by Haru's side hugging Tia, whilst Zade sat on the other side of his father, and Koru was sat opposite Rozin, but at the back of the cell, thinking about his family especially Lin, and only hoping that they did not have the same fate as Kaiya had, had.

Lin

Lin had waited long enough. She silently leapt out of her bed and crept to her bedroom door. The guards outside had poked their heads in every now and then, to see if she was till asleep. Little did they know that she had been awake the entire time. She placed her ear on the cold metallic door, listened for a while, and then tip-toed back to the side of her bed, taking a couple of steps away from it making sure she had enough room.

She then jumped into the air as high as she could, slamming her feet with as much force as she could muster, as she landed back on the ground, and then quickly sprawled herself on the floor making it look like she had fallen over. The two guards rushed in like Lin knew they would, and were immediately by her side, leaving the door wide open.

"Princess, are you alright?" One of them asked, his voice concerned as they helped her up.

"I was trying to go to the bathroom because I felt sick, then I fainted." Lin lied trying to make her voice sound ill and quiet. They helped her to her feet and cautiously let go of her, their arms at the ready just in case she fell again. Lin swayed a bit keeping up her act, and smiling slightly to herself. She placed one foot forward, the guards adjusting their positions as well, completely oblivious as she got into her stance. She grinned, and then took action.

Lin quickly bent down and in one swift movement, swept her leg under the feet of the unsuspecting guards, knocking them over. She then knelt down beside their heads, and placed two fingers behind their left ears. She then used her Firebending and heated her fingers up. Azula had taught her this, after she had taught her how to lightning bend. This technique caused so much pain in the head, that the brain would automatically make the body unconscious, its own type of numbing effect, as it tried to block out the pain.

Once she had taken down the guards she left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her, and then set off down the corridors. She hid in the shadows or behind pillars when she heard someone approach her, making sure the coast was clear before they set off again. She didn't care what Azula would do to her if she caught her, after what she had done to Kaiya, Lin would never call her by the name mother again.

Prison

They heard the door to the prison swing open at the top of the stairs, slamming into the wall behind it. Katara and Zuko stood up and positioned themselves in front of Aang. They listened to the fast paced footsteps that came down the stairs, faster then that of a pace if you were walking. They waited and stared as Lin stumbled down the last couple of steps as she lost her footing, but luckily managed to maintain her balance, panting for air. She carefully manoeuvred around Kaiya, (who was still lying on the stretcher on the floor), and wrapped her hands around the bars of their cell.

"I need to know what's going on, every single detail," She said once she had gotten her breath back. Katara and Zuko looked to one another confused, but did not move out of their positions from in front of Aang, just in case Azula was around the corner, out of sight.

"Lin!" Koru called from his cell as he stood by Rozin, in plain sight so that Lin could see him.

"You, you're the one that called my name before, is that correct?" She asked looking towards him, as she recognised his voice. Koru nodded his head, knowing that she was still brainwashed, much like Kaiya had been, so he ignored her tone of voice,

"How do you Know my name... wait don't answer that of course you know my name, I'm the princess," She muttered the last part to herself, her face twisting into a frown, as she tried to think of what to say.

"How do you know me, when I have clearly never met you before in my entire life," She asked. Everyone except Aang looked to Koru as he shook his head, wanting to know how he would explain the situation to her,

"You're wrong," He began to say as he looked to her,

"You've known me you're whole life, literally," He added, pausing to see how Lin would respond to what he had just said.

"That is impossible ... I mean this is the first time I've ever spoken to you," She replied, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration, her liquid golden eyes not breaking their gaze away from his, as he shook his head again,

"Urgh, this makes no sense!" Lin sighed quite loudly as she got more and more irritated, hitting her fists on the bars of the cell,

"Why can't I understand," She whispered looking back to Koru,

"Because you've been brainwashed," He replied to her quietly, wanting to tell her straight out. Lin walked slowly to stand in front of Koru's cell, as he turned to face her,

"What?" Was all she said, still trying to comprehend what Koru had just told her. Koru stared at her shocked and frightened face for a while, before he spoke.

"Lin ..." He started to say as he walked toward her, feeling the stares of eyes on his back, as they watched him. He raised his hand to her fragile looking one that was wrapped round the bars of his cell, but let it fall limp to his side, then looked her straight in the eye,

"You are my elder sister Lin. You were brainwashed into thinking that Azula was your mother, and Kaiya was your sister, but that's not true, none of it is," Her told her, placing his hand under hers, without hesitation. Lin looked at it, but did not flinch away. As soon as he touched her hand, she knew that he was telling the truth, that she did know him, but her brain was blocking any connections that related her to him, so she was still confused. She was about to reply, but got cut off by Akira,

"Mum something's wrong with dad." Katara turned to look at her son, his expression terrified, and then to Sokka who was sitting next to her son, his face the same as his, and then finally turned round fully to face her husband. His face twitched, and then twisted into a scowl of pure fury and malice, and then he stood up so that Katara was looking up at him.

No one could understand how this was possible; if he had returned from the spirit world then he would be back to normal. Katara stared up at him, her eyes showing the trepidation she felt.

"Aang?" She asked worriedly. No response. She called his name again, but didn't dare tough him, and again she had no response, not even a tilt of his head. She backed away from him, as did Zuko, and went to pull her son into her lap, and hug him tightly, not taking her eyes off of her husband as his hands clenched into fists. She watched scared stiff as he threw his head back and let out an ear-splitting roar, something that sounded like a noise made by a dragon as it breathed fire, not something that should be made by a man of Aang's age, in fact any human being. As he let out this roar, his eyes and tattoos glowed a blinding white making everyone shield their eyes.

Lin was unaware that she had grabbed hold of Koru's hand rather tightly, that was until he lifted it up to cover his eyes. Katara had managed to make a small slit in between her fingers, large enough to see through, but small enough so that it wouldn't let the brilliant light through, and then whished that she hadn't. She could not believe what she saw when she looked at her husband, his eyes and tattoos fading from the vivid white into a burning, deep, blood red.

Aang

It felt like I had been locked in a cage or something along the lines of being paralysed. I knew that this would pass and I would be able to control this state if I concentrated, and allowed my emotions to blend into one. Xun had warned my of the consequences before he had passed on this technique, just to know if I still wanted to learn it. If I didn't manage to gain control of this state then the power would become too much, and I would be crushed from the inside. He only knew this due to personal experience. So I focused, channelling all my energy and emotions that I felt into one, becoming my drive and gaining control of this state.

I could hardly explain the power that swept over me as I got used to being in control. I could see, hear and feel everything in the prison, the look of sheer terror plastered across the faces of my wife and son, the sound of her voice as she soothed Akira, preventing him from going into a full blown panic attack, the dry air that circulated through the prison, with hardly any water in it, and yet I could do the same in the spirit world. It was exactly like Xun had said; I was literally split in two between the two worlds.

"Place one of your hands on her chest," Xun's voice sounded in my head. I nodded and began to walk forward, the feeling was surreal almost glide like. Kaiya's injuries had not healed and I wondered how this would affect her. I reached the bars, and knelt down next to my daughter, placing my hand on her chest through the bars. From the corner of my eye I saw Akira move his arms out toward me, as if he were trying to stop me, but retracted then when I tilted my head in his direction, and then turned my attention back to Kaiya,

"Make sure your hand is over her heart, and that your other hand is free of contact with anything," Xun's voice called again. I looked down at my hand and adjusted its position, so that it was placed over her motionless heart, and lifted my other one off of the floor of the cell.

As soon as my hand had been placed over Kaiya's heart I saw her spirit appear. She looked so scared and out of place. Her eyes automatically fell on where her body was laid, even though she could not see it since she was in the spirit world, and her body in the other, she could feel its presence, and knew it was there. Then she looked to me and smiled her cerulean eyes full of happiness.

She reached out for my hand, and I did not need Xun's instructions for I knew what I had to do, along with what would come with it, but if I wanted my daughter back I would suffer the pain a hundred times for her, as long as it meant I could be with her again. I reached out to touch her hand, and she closed the distance between us, and lifted her palm to mine. She smiled again, and then vanished from my sight.

My palm glowed orange and then I felt it. I arched my back and let out a deafening scream as she passed through my veins, but I did not take my hand off her chest. I decided to concentrate on my wife as she hid Akira behind her protectively, the others doing the same to their kids, and also try to relax my fast, rugged breathing as I inhaled and exhaled sharply through my clenched teeth. The pain was unbearable as every vein in my body was being scorched from the inside.

I couldn't not scream again when the pain came to my heart. It felt as though someone had cut open my chest and set a flame on it burning it slowly, and then started to pound it with a fist covered in flaming earth. You could have thrown me in a volcano, or put a dagger through my stomach and I would have been completely oblivious, since this pain was so intense.

I was glad when it passed my heart, welcoming the burning sensation it gave my veins, anything was better then what I had just experienced. It slowly passed down my other arm, and with it the spirit world started to fade from my vision, along with Xun's image as he mouthed the words, 'Remember your promise.'

The excruciating pain finally came to rest in my hand that had never left my daughter's chest, and with the little amount of energy I had left, I let the burning power, and spirit of my daughter pass through to her body. The palm of my hand glowed orange and then blue as she entered her body.

My eyes and tattoos faded from the glowing red, and returned to normal. I leant heavily on the bars of the cell in front of me, completely drained of energy, but most of all glad that it was over. My hand stayed on my daughter's chest, which wasn't moving. I managed to lift me head up so I could see her face. Her eyes were still closed, her face still pale. I slowly moved my limp hand up toward her neck, and placed two fingers on it. No pulse. I checked her wrist, it was the same, then I let my hand fall onto the ground by her hand, and began to quietly cry.

My effort had been futile and now I would loose the life of my first born grandchild. Two lives wasted in exchange for a useless, pathetic, and not to mention agonizingly painful power. I hit my fists against the bars, my energy fuelled by my sadness and anger.

"Aang?" I heard my wife's timid voice call out from behind me. I turned my head scanning everyone's face, including a young girl whom I had seen with Azula, as she clutched Koru rather tightly. Their faces showed the same expression of terror and shock. I opened my mouth about to apologize, but I was not prepared for what happened next.


	19. Sticky situations

Prison – Aang

Instead of a sound escaping from my lips, a high pitched blood curdling scream rang out from behind me. I spun round almost hitting my head on the bars of the cell to find my daughter, sat up fully awake, clutching at her chest. She fell on her side and pulled her knees to where her hands were, still screaming. I didn't realise just how much her wounds hadn't healed, and fresh blood started to soak the bandages and run down her fingers, more and more flowing out with every pump of her heart. I looked over to Katara who had appeared beside me as she pulled as much water as she could from the dry air around us. It wasn't much but hopefully it would do.

The young girl whom I presumed was Lin had come and knelt by Kaiya's side. She helped me lay her flat on her back, Kaiya making it extremely difficult since she was writhing in agony. As soon as Lin helped me unwrap Kaiya's bandages showing the full extent of the wound, Katara reached through the bars, and placed her hands on her chest, attempting to heal the gaping hole above her heart that had been left by Azula. She had to keep pulling small amounts of water from the air around her, but she managed to stop the flow of blood and with it Kaiya's deafening screams.

"Lin why haven't any of the guards come down?" I asked without a second thought whilst trying to keep Kaiya still. She looked up to me petrified when I spoke to her, and then looked to Koru, who nodded his head once. I must have scared everyone more than I had thought.

"The door at the top of the stairs is too thick to let any sound escape, and I also made up an excuse for the guards to leave their posts and get some rest," She replied quickly, avoiding any eye contact with me focusing on Kaiya instead, as she too tried to keep her still.

The remainder of Katara's water soaked into Kaiya's chest and she became still. I looked down at her face through the bars to find her staring back at me. The make up that had been on her eyes had run down her cheeks with her tears, but the rest of her make up remained in tact. I stared at her a little while longer, her blue eyes staring back at me, and then she smiled. I couldn't have been more happy, my daughter was alive, and I returned her smile with a genuine one of my own, something I hadn't done in a very long time.

"Kaiya?" I heard Rozin ask. I turned my head round to look at him; his expression was one of fear and hope. He caught my eye and I smiled at him and nodded my head. He let out a sigh and smiled back, and then I turned to my wife. She turned her gaze away from Kaiya, when she felt my eyes on her back, and looked straight into my eyes,

"What the hell was that?!" She asked happy and shocked, I looked around to everyone else. Zuko, Mai and Kuzon were sat at the back of the cell in a small huddle, Suki, Sokka, Jade, Sana and Tao sat in the opposite corner in the same position, all staring at me in terror. I looked over to the cell opposite. Haru was sat by Toph. (Even her expression showed fear), as she held Tia and Zade tightly, then I smiled sheepishly at the awkward situation.

"I guess I should apologize about that, sorry if I scared you," I said,

"Scared us?! You completely petrified everyone!" Sokka shouted as he hugged his son closer to his chest.

"I really am sorry." I apologized again. I told a deep breath and explained what had happened whist I was in the spirit world, and how I had bought Kaiya back to life, but didn't mention the promise I had made.

I turned back to look at my daughter after I had finished, and she was sat up not needing support. She wasn't even swaying but Lin sat behind her just in case she fell back.

"What about Azula?" Kaiya questioned me without any trace of fear in her voice. I looked to Katara for help. I had no idea of what had gone on whilst I had been in the spirit world. She opened her mouth to respond but closed it quickly when the sound of the door to the prison clanged shut.

Zhen

Zhen was in the guard's lounge located by the kitchens in the palace. Azula had been keeping him busy with petty little things just so he wouldn't be able to have any contact with his wife, daughter or son. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of parchment, then unfolded it. It was a small picture of his family. They had, had it painted for them by one of the royal painters for his birthday, a gift from Ty Lee, and he carried it everywhere with him, so that he could look at them when he needed cheering up, but this time it wasn't working.

"Not looking at that old thing again Zhen, that's the fifth time today." One of his best friends said to him as he walked over to join him at the table Zhen was sat at.

Zhen hadn't told any of the guards about what Azula had done, surprised that they hadn't notice Ty Lee wondering around the palace. They had never seen his kids, so none of them would recognise Lin.

"Hay that princess is a right handful, you looked after her yet?" His friend asked. Zhen laughed once, knowing how much trouble his daughter could be, but then shook his head,

"No, but I have a pretty good idea, there have been enough rumours," Zhen replied. The other guard put his feet on the table, and his hands behind his head, relaxing into his chair.

"So ... How do you find working for Azula?" He asked. Zhen's expression turned deadly as the man opposite hi mentioned Azula's name.

"That bad huh?" He replied in response, after watching Zhen's expression change.

"You have no idea," Zhen sighed, putting his head in his hands.

"You're right, but I know that everyone that worked for Zuko want him back," His friend remarked. Zhen lifted his head out of his hands,

"You?" He asked looking at hi, his friend smiled and nodded,

"He didn't go around killing children," He replied in disgust. Zhen bowed his head. Everyone who worked in the palace knew about Kaiya, and what had happened to her,

"Hey maybe we should rebel," The guard whispered, taking his feet off the table, and placing his elbows on it instead, leaning in closer to Zhen,

"What and take the risk of getting killed you moron!" Zhen whispered back. His friend just shrugged,

"Recruit an army," Was all he replied. Zhen laughed, making his friend furrow is eyebrows in confusion,

"What's your problem?" He asked. Zhen looked around, and then beckoned his finger toward his friend, who leaned in closer. Zhen cupped his hand round his mouth, and then proceeded to whisper something into his friend's ear.

"What! When?!" Came his response when Zhen had finished,

"Tomorrow I hope," Zhen replied,

"What do you want me to do?" His friend asked,

"Spread the word to the ones we trust, but they must keep quiet no matter the circumstances," He replied. Zhen's friend nodded,

"Now?" He asked. Zhen smiled and nodded in response.

"But .... Make sure that ear's who will betray are not around to hear you say," Zhen told him. His friend nodded and laughed once at the Zhen's choice of words, and then he rose and swiftly walked out of the lounge. Zhen folded the small piece of parchment back up, and placed it in his pocket.

"I know you're there," He sighed, but did not turn around. Ran walked out from the shadows he had been in, and went to sit opposite Zhen.

"Plotting against the Firelord, I could get you done for treason," Ran threatened. Zhen smirked, and leaned back in his chair,

"My life is already ruined, I have no idea where my son is, and my daughter and wife have no idea where I am, so please save your breath, and save your threats. Have me done for treason I don't care ... and nor will anyone else," Zhen replied calmly,

"Your son will care," Ran remarked. Zhen looked up at Ran whose expression was emotionless, then he laughed once.

"It doesn't surprise me in the least that you know where my son is." He said. Ran smirked,

"I'll tell you, if you tell me all about your little plan," He said,

"Blackmail, that's the best thing you can come up with. You're not the only person who knows where my son is, and I will never tell you what I know, you're wasting your time," Zhen whispered, his voice barely audible at the end of his sentence. Zhen stood up pushing his chair away from the table. Ran just smirked,

"You're right, but if I can't make you talk, I think I know someone who can." Ran snapped his fingers and stood from his chair as two other Dai Li agents came out of the shadows. They shot their rock fists towards Zhen, and bound his wrists behind his back. Ran casually strode toward the struggling Zhen,

"You will talk one way or another," He said coolly, and then motioned his hand for the two Dai Li to follow behind him, with Zhen in their grasp.

Prison

Kaiya lay as still and motionless as she possibly could, whilst Lin hid in the shadows at the side of the stairs. It was the prison guard on his daily errand of giving them the small amount of food they were usually given. This time though instead of the small piece of bread they usually got given, it was more like a three course meal.

The man slid the bowels through each of the three cells, and then turned to face Aang and Katara,

"I'm sorry about your loss, I snook these from the kitchen for you, its better then what Azula has been giving you ... Oh and They will come to collect your daughter tomorrow, so you have a bit more time to spend with her," He informed them bowing his head. He looked at Kaiya for a little while whilst Katara and Aang muttered their appreciation, then he turned and left.

They waited until they heard the clang of the door again, then Kaiya heavily exhaled and opened her eyes. Lin stepped back out of the shadows exhaling herself, and then swiftly walked to stand beside Koru. She was getting to grips with the truth about Kaiya, but she still couldn't come to terms with the fact that Koru was her brother, even though she felt oddly comfortable and safe around him.

"Koru, have you told Lin?" Kaiya asked after watching her walk to stand beside him. Koru nodded,

"But she's still brainwashed. It's like she understands but her brain won't let her process the information," He explained, and then turned to face Rozin,

"What did you do to bring Kaiya back?" He asked him. Rozin broke his gaze away from Kaiya, and turned to answer Koru.

"I explained things that had happened to her recently ... things that had happened to her," He explained before adding,

"Things that had happened before she had been brainwashed." Rozin turned his gaze back to Kaiya, who was trying to stand up. She wrapped her hands around the bars next to her, and pulled herself onto her feet.

"Kaiya you shouldn't be doing that you're to weak," Katara told her softly, trying to gently pull her back down.

"I'm fine mum," She replied, but her legs buckled underneath her, making her grip the bars harder so that she could support her weight, this put too much strain on her injury (Which was still far from healed), and fresh blood began to soak through the already bloodstained bandages, that had been wrapped back round her chest. She gasped and automatically reached towards the wound, releasing her grip on the bars. Lin managed to catch her before she made contact with the ground, and gently laid her back down on the stretcher, then proceeded to unwrap the bandages so that Katara could access the wound.

Katara pulled what little amount of water she could from the air, and reached her hands through the bars to stop the flow of blood.

"I warned you, told you that you were too weak," Katara scolded her, but not harshly. How could she be mad at her daughter whilst she was so fragile?

"Is she alright?" Both Tia and Rozin asked at the same time, looking anxiously in the direction of Kaiya,

"She'll be fine if she stays still," Katara replied, whilst also advising Kaiya, who rolled her eyes whilst Aang and Lin rewrapped the bandages back round Kaiya.

"What will happen when they come to take her away though?" Suki asked after a moment's silence. For this neither Aang, Katara, or Akira had an answer, but Zuko did,

"They won't ... I'll make sure of it."

"Zuko! They could kill you in a second if you got in their way," Mai said worriedly, grasping tight hold of his hand as if she could keep him with her forever.

"Then they'll have to kill me to," Haru stated loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Don't be so stupid!" Toph scolded,

"You have nothing to bend with, so then what would you do?" She questioned looking in his direction, even though she couldn't see or feel him.

"Not necessarily," Tia contradicted,

"If those Dai Li agents come to take Kaiya away, they have earth encased round their hands," She explained,

"So that makes me feel better about your father willing to die!?" Toph questioned raising her voice as she tried to hide the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes,

"I never said that," Tia whispered in response.

"Nobody's going to die! And nobody is taking me anywhere!" Kaiya exclaimed, turning everyone's attention to her,

"But Kaiya, they all think you're dead," Suki explained to her quietly,

"Yeah, so we can use that to our advantage," Kaiya replied, before she let out a low hiss of pain, clutching at the wound on her chest, and bringing her knees to where her hands were. Katara reached through the bars of the cell, unsure of what to do, and ended up stroking her arm soothingly until she relaxed.

"But our main focus now is trying to get Lin back," Kaiya said once the pain had passed. Rozin turned to Koru,

"What happened before you came here? What were you doing?" He asked,

"Well ... we were sat round our kitchen table waiting for our father to come home, and then Azula turned up and forced us to come here," He answered as he recollected the events that had happened that day.

"Then?" Rozin replied, trying to keep Koru talking to see if any of the events would help Lin remember.

"Then we were separated from our mother and taken to a room and locked in there. A few hours later some men came for Lin then they ..."

"They took me away from you," Lin interrupted,

"They took me to another room, underneath the courtyard of the palace, made sure I couldn't move and then they brainwashed me," She added, her eyes glazed as she remembered what had happened,

"Zuko, there's nothing under the courtyard except earth isn't there?" She asked, wanting her husband to agree with her, because as far as she knew there wasn't. Zuko just shrugged,

"That's not true, the Dai Li have built an entire lair under there," Lin told her getting up to stand in front of her brother.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you, I had no right," Lin apologized looking to her feet. Koru put his arms through the bars, and awkwardly embraced his sister.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for," He told her. Considering Koru was a year younger then his sister he was a good deal taller hen her.

"Wait ... so ... is Lin back?" Sokka asked confused, rubbing his chin. Lin nodded,

"Well that was different," He responded,

"What do you mean?" Suki asked.

"Well, when Kaiya came back she looked and acted as if she were in pain ... which is probably true," Sokka stammered at the end, after getting a scowl from Rozin,

"Bu with Lin it was more ... natural I guess," He finished his sentence.

"Maybe it was because Lin was already realising hat things weren't normal, whereas with Kaiya she got it all thrown a her in one go," Toph suggested shrugging her shoulders as her theory was plausible.

"Okay, now ha we've established Lin is back, what do we do about Kaiya's situation?" Akira asked looking to his sister who smiled back at him. Tao clapped his hands once as if to get everyone's attention, which was indeed what he was trying to do,

"Scare them," He merely said. They all looked confused at the two words Tao had spoken, and considering this was the fist time he had talked, and the fact hat he was the youngest one there, everyone wanted to know what he was on about.

"What do you mean sweetie?" Suki asked him,

"Make Kaiya a ghost, then scare them away!" He explained smiling,

"You can't make Kaiya a ghost, she's alive! And even if she wasn't you still wouldn't be able to do it!" Sana retorted. Tao scowled at her,

"She would pretend!" He snapped back at her smugly.

"That might work, if Kaiya wasn't so weak," Katara said quietly

"I can sit up mum, I just can't stand that well," Kaiya explained, sitting up to prove her point,

"Katara could use her blood bending," Zuko muttered under his breath, but not as quietly as he wanted it to be. Katara turned round to face him, and glared at him murderously after hearing what he had just muttered,

"Did you just say what I think you said?!" She questioned in disbelief. Zuko nodded his head slightly intimidated by the woman in front of him. There was no point in denying it; Katara had ears like a wolf bat.

"ARE YOU CRAZY OR JUST PLAIN STUPID ZUKO?! I WILL NOT BLLODBEND MY DAUGHTER WHILST SHE IS LIKE THIS! WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM? A PSYCHOPATHIC SADIST?!" Katara bellowed at him furiously.

"But he's right mum," Kaiya said once Katara had finished her rant at Zuko, and calmed down a little bit.

"Kaiya you can't be serious?! Aang replied incredulously.

"Think about it dad, if mum blood bend's me, she can control me without inflicting as much pain on me as I would myself if I stood up, plus not only does I look really creepy, it will definitely freak hem out if we could make It look real." Kaiya explained.

"I won't do it," Katara refused stubbornly.

"FINE! Then they can take me away and do spirits only knows what!" Kaiya replied angrily, hissing again through gritted teeth as another wave of pain shot through her chest, like a knife cutting through air.

"Kaiya you know we won' let that happen," Aang told her reassuringly,

"Well do you have a better idea?!" She asked clamping her teeth together even harder as the pain became more intense,

"Kaiya please try to calm down, this isn't helping you in any way, you're only inflicting more pain on yourself," Aang advised.

"FIINE!" she fumed. She focused on Rozin's face. He was smiling at her but she could tell that behind his smile he was scared. Scared for her well being, afraid that he would loose her again, and she didn't think that he would be able to bear that pain again, so she smiled at him showing her teeth, and giving him a thumbs up. Then she pulled a stupid face at him, trying to lighten the mood. He shook his head and laughed. Only Kaiya would be able to do something like this in she state she was in. He looked back at her and she was sticking her tongue out at him. No one complained if it made them happy, and Kaiya calm down then it was fine with them.

Aang looked to his wife, after watching his daughter for a while, and she knew exactly what she was thinking,

"NO" She told him sternly. Aang didn't reply he only darted his eyes to Kaiya who was now sat up facing Rozin, and then looked back to his wife,

"No Aang I will no do it!" She whispered to him,

"Katara, I am opposed to the idea as well,"

"Then you should feel exactly how I feel!" She interrupted.

"Yes Katara I do, but can you think of anything else, anything better? If we can scare them away it might but us a little bit more time to figure out what we're going to do, and besides its Kaiya's decision more than any one else's," He explained taking her by he hand.

"Mum it's fine trust me," Kaiya told her. Katara looked to her daughter, not realising that she had been listening to their conversation. Kaiya smiled reassuringly,

"Do you think it will work though?" Katara asked, turning back to look at Aang,

"I can't tell the future Katara, but it's worth a shot," He replied honestly. Katara looked down to her hands which were still in Aang's. She sat like this for a while thinking about Tao's idea, then she sighed,

"Are you positive Kaiya? Is it what you want?" She asked her daughter once more before she made her decision,

"Mum I don't think anyone 'wants it' but if it buys us some time then yes," Kaiya replied truthfully. Katara stared at her daughter evaluating her then sighed again, and reluctantly agreed.

She had always known that she would teach Kaiya the technique of blood bending to her daughter one day, after she had found out that she was a Waterbender, (and if Kaiya wanted to learn it that is), but she never thought that she would have to use the technique on her when she was badly injured, weak, and not to mention fragile.

Lin left them after they had made the decision, swearing she wouldn't tell anyone, and after she had given Koru one last hug, because she knew she had to get back and think of an excuse just in case Azula had been looking for her, but if she was extremely lucky she could sneak back into her room and still act like she was brainwashed.

"What if it doesn't work?" Haru asked after Lin had left,

"I have another idea up my sleeve, but lets just hope it won't come to that," Katara replied her voice lacking any tone what so ever. No one bothered to ask what it was, thinking that they'd regret it if they did.

Kaiya laid back on the stretcher, she would need as much strength as she possibly could for this to work. She closed her eyes listening to her family and friends as they discussed tactics, forming a little plan of her own.

* * *

_Hi agen, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if its a little confusing all will be revealed but for now i like leaving you all in suspense, evil me *cackles*. Oh i also wana say that if there are spelling errors please tell me so i can correct them, ma computer is palyng up at the minute and some of the keys on the keyboard only function when they want to :( lame. Any way hope you enjoyed and i will update again asap!_


	20. Tomorrow

Lin

Lin moved stealthily back to her room, all the while keeping on her guard just in case Azula was there. Hopefully the guards she had knocked out would still be in her room, since the technique had a long lasting effect. She sighed in relief when she saw the door to her bedroom, and that there were no guards stood outside. She checked her surroundings again to make sure the coast was clear, and then quickly scurried to her room, heaving the large metal door open with more force then necessary, and slipped inside, closing it quietly behind her. Lin leaned against the door panting, her eyes shut as she concentrated on getting her breath back, having run all the way from the prisons as fast as she could.

"A little out of breath are we Lin?" Lin froze stopping in mid breath, as she recognized the sly voice. Her eyes flew open. Azula was perched on the end of her bed staring at her, her expression blank, but Lin could tell there was something brewing behind the blank composure of Azula's face. Lin remained by the door frozen in fear. Azula had been waiting for her.

"I see the technique that I taught you was effective," Azula chided her eyes darting to the two guards, who were still in the same positions on the floor Lin had left them in. Lin didn't bother to follow Azula's gaze, too frightened to take her eyes of the woman in front of her. Azula fixed her eyes back onto the young girl who still stood by the door of the room, and narrowed them,

"Where were you?" She questioned, pushing herself off the end of the bed to stand up.

"I…I…" Lin stammered trying to think of something. Azula remained quiet her narrowed eyes fixed on Lin, staring at her in such a way that it was like she could see straight through her, and the thick metal door her back was against.

"I just went out for a walk in the garden, to get some fresh air, I didn't feel well," Lin explained as the excuse popped into her mind. She took her eyes off Azula and looked down at her feet, still feeling the piercing gaze the woman was giving her. Big mistake.

Azula was by Lin's side in a flash; Lin didn't have any time to react as Azula clamped her hand over her throat, bringing with it a sense of Déjà vu,

"DON'T LIE TO ME CHILD!" Azula spat as she thrust Lin against the door, slamming her back and head into it, not giving in as Lin yelped in pain or when she desperately clawed against Azula's hand as she lifted her off the ground, her feet dangling helplessly in midair.

"WHERE WERE YOU?!" She asked again, her teeth clenched, and her eyes now burning with ferocity. Lin wasn't going to tell her where she had just been, so she frantically tried to make up another excuse,

"I…Was…" Lin cut off, her eyes rolling back into her head as her air supply was completely cut off. Azula released her grip letting Lin slump into a crumpled heap on the floor by her feet. A couple of seconds later she stated coughing and spluttering as she was able to breath again. Azula knelt down next to Lin, and tightly gripped her pale face with one hand.

"If you ever lie to me again, I will not hold back. Now be a good little girl and get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Azula's tone was calmer at the end of her sentence, as she released her grip on Lin and slightly stroked her cheek before rising. Little did Azula know the truth of her own words.

She stood and watched as Lin dragged herself of the floor, then got changed making sure she kept a good deal of distance away from Azula. She stayed and watched as Lin clambered into bed stumbling a few times on the way. As soon as Azula was satisfied she turned and walked out of the room, locking the door behind her once it had been shut.

As soon as Azula had gone Lin broke down into a convulsion of tears. She wanted her mother, her real mother to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be ok. But she couldn't have that luxury. Her mother was just like she had been a few hours ago, and she had no idea who she was. So she concentrated on her brother, knowing that he was well and safe for the time being, until she finally cried herself to sleep.

Zhen

Zhen had been locked in a small room, the only light coming from when he Firebended. He was stuck here until the morning then Ran and his pathetic minions would come and collect him, and take him to face Azula, Ran wanting him to stand trial for treason. Zhen shook the thought of Ran out of his head along with the words '_Sick bastard!' _He had never liked him; mind you he hadn't liked any of them. He slouched on the floor ad started to Firebend the faces of his wife and children, only one of which could remember him, or so he thought.

He held the fire in the palm of his hand, Ty lee's face in amongst the flames. He gazed at it for a while before it became nothing but a blur, and nothing more than a palm full of flames which he let die away, leaving him sat in darkness. He let his mind wander to try and pass the time, and he ended up thinking about what he had earlier on. He thought about what Ran might say to Azula, how he would end up denying anything that he would say, and then how his plan would end up coming true, and this whole mess might finally be over. Then he thought of how Azula would react, and probable much to Ran's delight kill him where he stood.

Apart from being banished from the Fire nation, this was the second most common form of punishment for treason against the royal family. Zuko didn't believe killing people was right so he banished them, but Zhen knew that Azula was the complete opposite of Zuko.

He sighed knowing that this was probably his fate, even though he was scared he had to admit it, he had chosen his path and at some point all paths had to come to an end, even with all the difficult turns and twists which faced you along the way.

He slumped his back against one of the walls and started to Fire bend the faces of his family again, remembering the happy times he had, had with them for this could be his last and only chance.

Ty Lee

Ty Lee was patrolling the palace halls that night, wandering aimlessly through the corridors. The shift she had been assigned to that night finished in half an hour, but she wasn't tired so she would tell the person that was meant to replace her that it was no longer necessary.

She rounded a dimly lit corner which only lead to a dead end and a solitary door. She was about to turn back and head in the opposite direction, when a small burst of light caught her eye from underneath the door and then faded away. She stared at the gap below the door (where it didn't quite meet the floor), for a couple more minutes, wanting to make sure that her mind hadn't been playing tricks on her.

She waited and began to think that it had just been an illusion, but another small burst of light appeared, this time lasting a little while longer than the last, followed by another.

Ty Lee looked around her, (a pretty pointless thing to do since hardly anyone was awake), and then cautiously made her way toward the door. She tried the handle, locked. Luckily each of the guards and servants who worked in the palace were given a set of keys, the only one they weren't given, was the one to the prison. Ty Lee unclipped them from her belt, and proceeded to fumble through them in the dim light. She tried a couple but they didn't work, so she attempted one last time. She cautiously lifted her hand toward the lock on the door, put the key in, and then twisted. She reached her hand out to the handle and pushed, causing the door to creak open.

The room was completely dark, only a small proportion of it lit by the dim lights of the corridor outside. She squinted her eyes to try and see through the blackness that greeted her, but had no luck. _Must have imagined it_, she thought to herself as she turned her back about to leave.

"Ty Lee?" A voice rang out from the darkness, its tone questioning. Ty Lee froze then slowly turned around. Nothing was there.

"Is it really you?" It asked again, its tone still the same. Ty Lee stood in the doorway, staring in the direction that the voice had come from, and then a man's face appeared from the darkness. Ty Lee stumbled back a few steps, as he took a couple of steps forward, so that he was stood in the light. She stared at the man confused, then looked to the right and left of the room, then back to the man stood in front of her,

"Why are you in here?" She asked confused as to why he had been locked in a dark room, at the end of a corridor by himself.

"It's so good to see you!" The man exclaimed, ignoring her question then closed the distance between them, and flung his arms around her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ty lee shouted trying to free her arms from the man's embrace in order to paralyse him. The man backed off immediately, suddenly remembering that she had no idea who he was… at least not yet she didn't.

"I'm sorry about that…." He whispered quietly not being able to finish his sentence.

"And so you should be!" Ty Lee replied harshly, glaring at him as he shuffled uncomfortably where he stood.

"Who are you?" She asked, after a moment of silence, not recognising the man, but realising that he worked in the palace from the way he was dressed.

"My name is Zhen, and to answer your previous question Ran put me in here." Zhen replied wanting to move closer to his wife, but thinking it was best not to do so.

"How come I haven't seen you walking around the palace?" She asked intrigued,

"Well to put it bluntly Azula has been coming up with things for me to do, in order for me to stay away from you," Zhen stated matter of factly. Ty Lee looked at him, her petite face scrunched up in confusion,

"And why would she want to do that?" She questioned, placing her hands on her hips and raising her eye brows, as she didn't believe him.

"Well … you're not going to believe this, even though I swear to you it's true but…" He paused debating on how to tell her, then sighed,

"You are my wife," He explained his voice full of truth. Ty Lee burst into a fit of laughter,

"That's … hilarious…" She managed to choke out in between her giggles,

"I told you that you wouldn't believe me," Zhen said once Ty Lee had calmed down a little bit,

"Well I think I'd remember if I'd got married,"

"That's just it you don't … because Azula had you brainwashed," Zhen explained feeling like a fool,

"Oh, this just gets better and better," Ty Lee replied as she began to giggle again, clutching at her stomach. Zhen strode over to her and grasped her roughly by the shoulders, shaking her. She instantly stopped laughing shocked by his sudden actions,

"Listen to me Ty Lee, you are my wife, that is the truth, and nothing can change it otherwise. WE have a family, one boy, and one girl Lin and…"

"Koru!" Ty Lee interrupted him in a shocked gasp, but also sounded like a gasp of pain. She instantly reached her hands to her head and began whimpering in pain, as her knees buckled underneath her. Zhen kept hold of her supporting her weight as she leaned heavily against him,

"Ty Lee what's wrong?!" Zhen asked frantically at his wife's sudden change. Ty Lee didn't reply. He waited for an answer and his wife finally became silent and still. Zhen didn't know what to do; he didn't know what had just happened,

"Ty Lee?" He asked, still holding her in his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief when Ty Lee turned her face up to look at his.

"Don't you ever shake me like that again." She ordered. Zhen looked at her in complete shock, but then she smiled. He hugged his wife tighter and returned her smile, as he knew that she was back to normal. They stayed like this for a little while longer, before Ty Lee finally broke away,

"Where's Koru?" She asked checking he room again thinking he might have been in here with his father.

"I don't know," He replied sadly, looking down at the floor,

"But I do know where Lin is," He said bringing his face backup to look at his wife again,

"So do I…" She said, but was suddenly interrupted as footsteps echoed in the hallway close to the one they were in. Ty Lee pushed her husband back into the dark room, and then followed him in closing the door as quietly as she could behind her.

She walked to the back of the room, her arms held out in front of her so that she didn't bang into anything.

"So what do we do now?" She whispered into the darkness as she moved forward. As she placed her foot in front of her, she kicked something then realised it was Zhen sat on the floor,

"OW!" HE exclaimed trying to keep his tone of voice as quiet as possible, as to not draw any attention to this room, just in case those footsteps had come this way,

"Sorry," She whispered back. Ty Lee crouched down, and fumbled around until she found the side of her husband, then sat by it.

"Well?" She questioned still keeping her tone of voice quiet,

"Well what?" He whispered back, obviously not having heard Ty Lee's previous question. Ty Lee sighed then repeated herself,

"What are we supposed to do now?"

"Well for a start you're not even supposed to be in here in the first place," He explained lighting a small flame in the middle of his palm,

"CUT THAT OUT!" Ty Lee scolded trying to keep her voice low with great difficulty, and quickly pushing his hand back down, causing the flame to die out,

"Why?" He questioned,

"The only reason I am here is because I could see the light from your Fire bending from under the door, so if you want to draw more attention to us please… be my guest and carry on,"

"Sorry," He paused,

"There was no need for the sarcasm." Ty Lee didn't reply to him but changed the topic of conversation so that she wouldn't loose her cool,

"So why did Ran place you in here anyway?" Zhen sighed and then proceeded to tell his wife what he had done in order to end up here, and then what Ran had in store for him,

"And if you don't leave now, you will probably end up with the same fate." He concluded then added,

"And then who will look after the kids?" Ty Lee knew all to well that he was right, but she didn't want to leave him, at least not now,

"I'll stay with you a little while longer then I'll leave, but I will be there when you are taken to Azula, and don't say otherwise. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," She replied him, resting her head on his shoulder. He turned his head and leaned down to press his lips into her hair, then wrapped his arm round her shoulders and stroked her arm soothingly. If these were the last moments he would have with his wife, then he would treasure every second of them.

Prison

It felt like tomorrow would never come as Katara was knelt by the bars of the cell, closest to her daughter. She wanted to try and heal as much as she could before she would have to … she couldn't even bring herself to think it. She felt so disgusted at herself,

"What's wrong mum?" Kaiya asked. Katara hadn't realised her daughter had been staring up at her, not sure as to what expression was displayed upon her face.

Katara didn't take her eyes off of her hands, but she tried her best to smooth out whatever expression she had,

"Nothing sweetie I'm fine, you just try and relax," She replied. Kaiya did as her mother asked and gazed up at the dark metallic ceiling, relaxing the rest of her muscles in her body. This made it easier for Katara to control the flow of blood around Kaiya's wound, so that it didn't seep out whilst she was also trying to heal it.

It was only Katara and her daughter that were awake, the rest wanted to get some rest just in case things didn't go according to plan. Kaiya hissed sharply, breaking the silence when Katara accidently lost control of what she was doing, and causing Sokka to groan in his sleep.

"Sorry, sorry," Katara apologised frantically keeping her voice quiet, and focusing all of her concentration on what she was doing. A few more moments of silence filled the dark atmosphere, before Katara finished and placed her hands in her lap, fiddling with her fingers as she looked down at them.

Kaiya turned her head and looked up at her mother. She could tell she was distracted by something and by her guess it was about their plan for tomorrow.

"Mum," Kaiya whispered. Katara pulled her head up, tearing her gaze from her hands to look at her daughter expectantly,

"I know something's wrong." Katara didn't reply, she only looked back down to her hands again.

"Will you tell me?" Kaiya asked after another long pause of silence, even though she already knew the answer.

"I was just thinking," Katara merely replied, shrugging her shoulders, and forcing a smile on her face. Kaiya scowled up at her mother and slightly pouted her lips, why couldn't she just tell her the truth,

"It's about tomorrow isn't it?" Kaiya asked, watching her mother, as the fake smile disappeared, and her lips turned down slightly at the corners. Katara sighed then nodded; she was useless at hiding things from her daughter especially since she couldn't lie.

"You know how I feel about it Kaiya," She whispered. Kaiya furrowed her eyebrows, as she looked back up to the ceiling,

"You said that you had another ides up your sleeve earlier," Kaiya responded, her eyes focused on the same spot above her.

"Would you like to tell me what it is?" She asked when her mother didn't reply to her.

"We need more time to figure out what to do, now that everyone except you are able to fight again, correct?" She answered. Kaiya nodded,

"Well what if, instead of blood bending you, I blood bended the people who come to take you away?" She explained. Kaiya sighed,

"And what if Azula is there?" She asked, turning her head back round to face her mother, her eyebrows raised in question. Katara clearly hadn't thought about her,

"Oh," Was all she responded. Then she thought for a moment,

"I'm sure Lin could come up with a distraction, and if not Azula will probably be getting ready for whatever she has planned for you," She explained.

"And if not?" Kaiya questioned stubbornly,

"If not then I will blood bend her to, and then let Aang or Zuko decide what to do with her," She concluded. Kaiya couldn't argue back, but then a thought crossed her mind,

"Ok, so if Azula doesn't show up, and you blood bend the guys who come to take me away … what then?"

"We figure out how to escape. Zuko is the Fire lord; he knows every nook and cranny in this entire palace so I doubt that it will be difficult,"

"Oh sure, it'll be a breeze. There are hundreds of guards patrolling the palace 24 hours a day, and if they don't do as Azula say's they die. So I'm sure they'll be happy enough to let us escape if we come across any," Kaiya replied sarcastically, her voice going from a whisper to just below a shout. Aang stirred and woke up. Kaiya was surprised that he had been the only one.

"What are you two still doing up?" He asked, rubbing his eyes and stretching.

"I was just giving Kaiya another healing session, she needs as much strength as possible," Katara replied in a hushed tone.

"Sorry I woke you," Kaiya apologised,

"I moved to quickly," She lied, shooting a glance in her mother's direction. Aang wouldn't have been able to detect it in the dim light of the prison, but Katara caught it out of the corner of her eye.

"You have no need to be sorry," Aang replied to her, smiling warmly. Kaiya gave a small smile in response.

"Well as you say Katara Kaiya needs all the strength she can, and so do you so I think it would be best if you both got some sleep." He said stretching again. Katara smiled at him and nodded, as did Kaiya. He looked at them a little while longer, then turned and fell back to sleep. Then Katara turned to face her daughter.

"I will not blood bend you Kaiya, I can't." She whispered, taking her hand through the bars of the cell.

"I promise nothing will happen to you, you know I would never let that happen don't you?" She asked, Kaiya nodded her head.

"And you also know that if anything did happen to you, or anyone in our family for that matter, I would never forgive myself," Kaiya nodded again,

"I know mum," She whispered back. Katara smiled slightly, then moved her other hand through the bars of the cell, and gently placed it on her daughter's forehead, stroking her cheek lightly with her thumb.

"Now you better go to sleep just in case your father wakes up again, and I get into trouble," She laughed slightly. Kaiya smiled then closed her eyes. Five minutes later she had drifted off into a deep sleep, Katara still holding her hand through the bars of the cell, and also stroking her cheek. She smiled slightly at how peaceful her daughter looked, and then slowly and gently pulled her hand away from Kaiya's.

She lay down by the bars of the cell, and placed her arm under her head, so that it wasn't resting on the cold, hard floor. She smiled slightly to herself as she would do things her way, and because she didn't have to blood bend her daughter. She knew that she wouldn't have done it in the first place, but she agreed so that she would have more time to think through her own plan of action, even though she forgot about Azula.

She scowled at the name of the woman who had caused so much pain and trouble, not just for her and her friends but the whole world. Hopefully she wouldn't be in the picture for very long, this made Katara smirk, her mind thinking of the many different things that could possibly happen to her, (something Katara didn't do very often), and with these thoughts she drifted off to sleep, a slight smirk still gracing her lips.

* * *

_HI! Sorry its taken so long for me to update this chapter, i didn't no what to write, and ive been backed up with college work :(. My next chapter won't be updated that quickly either, just to give you a heads up anyway i hope you enjoy this chapter, tell me in a reveiw :)._


	21. Freedom?

The sun shone through every window of the palace, lighting up the deep red hallways and turning them into bright shades of crimson and gold's. The guards and servants bustled through the corridors like any other day carrying out their duties and jobs. Little did they know that today was the day.

Azula

Azula had already woken with the sun that morning, its energy surging though her body, enriching her with its power. The servants helped her get washed and dressed into the long robes traditionally worn by the Firelord, and tied her hair back with the crown of the Firelord placed neatly in the bun on the top of her head.

A knock sounded at the door of her chambers and she dismissed the servants, who were just finishing off neatening up her clothes, with a flick of her wrist. She then walked over to her door and pulled it open, with a little more force then was necessary, to find Ran stood outside. He immediately bowed when Azula came into hi line of sight.

"Good morning your highness," He greeted her, still in his bow,

"What have you come to tell me Ran?" She questioned impatiently, completely ignoring his greeting wanting to get straight to the point.

"Your highness I have imprisoned one of the guards, I think he's plotting against you," Ran informed her. Now Azula wasn't in a particularly good mood in the first place, but hearing this information bought her anger to a whole other level. Ran seeing the expression on Azula's face change rapidly once he had finished, immediately tok about four steps back.

"Who?" She replied through tightly clenched teeth, her balled up fists shaking violently by her sides, as she tried to prevent herself from setting something on fire.

"Zhen," Ran said timidly. Blue flames erupted from her knuckles of her clenched up fists, and her breathing became more ragged with rage.

"I spare his life, and this is how he repays me?!" Azula spat in sheer disbelief. The flames were beginning to dance around the outside of her hands,

"Where is he?" She asked, her now solid golden eyes meeting Ran's nervous green ones.

"I locked him in one of the rooms that isn't used," He answered, shuffling back another step as the flames around Azula's fist had started to expand outwards.

"Take me to him now!" She ordered. Ran quickly scuttled off in the direction of the room Zhen was in, with an enraged Azula storming behind him.

Zhen and Ty Lee

Ty Lee had fallen asleep not long after saying she would leave, and was now lying with her head in Zhen's lap. Zhen had sat with Ty Lee like this all night, lightly stroking her forehead when she became a little restless. He hadn't woke her up because he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible just in case his prediction of his fate came true, and if he did wake her up then she would have left.

Ty Lee stirred, stretched out her arms and legs, whilst giving a huge yawn, before her eye lids fluttered open. Zhen smiling down at her was the first thing she saw, once her eyes had adjusted to the dim light. She smiled back up at him before he leant down to press his lips gently against hers, and putting his arms around her.

"Morning sleepy head," Zhen laughed quietly once he had reluctantly pulled away from her, to sit up straight again. Zhen knew it was early in the morning since he could feel the sun still rising little by little, and the power inside him growing stronger.

"Morning," Ty Lee whispered back smiling again, but her smile quickly changed into an expression of shock as she realised the time.

"MORNING!" She cried, leaping off Zhen's lap and out of his arms onto her feet.

"Ty Lee what's wrong?" Zhen asked confused,

"Why didn't you wake me up?!" She replied with a question of her own, as she felt around on the floor for her shoes, which she had taken off the previous night.

"Is it wrong for a husband to want to spend a night with his wife, knowing that he might die the following day?" He questioned rhetorically in response.

"You know I'm not going to let that happen," She snapped back at him, as her hands came into contact with her shoes, which she immediately slipped onto her feet, and then stood up coming face to face with Zhen.

"If they come in and see me in here with you, what do you think will happen hmmm?" Zhen didn't reply, to busy caught up in his own thoughts, so Ty Lee answered for him.

"They will know that I'm not brainwashed anymore, probably assume that I was trying to help you escape, and most likely I would end up getting...." Zhen put his hand over Ty Lee's mouth to shush her.

"That girl, what's her name .... Kaiya! ... She was the Avatar's daughter, and he is down in the prisons at this very moment in time isn't he?" Ty Lee nodded, pulling Zhen's hand away from her mouth.

"Did you lock this door?" He asked Ty Lee. She thought for a moment and then shook her head.

"How far is the prison from here?" He asked thinking, not knowing where about in the palace this room was.

"Not that far ... Why?" She questioned, confused as to where Zhen was going. He thought for another moment, and then walked over to the door. He opened it and poked his head out to make sure the coast was clear, as soon as he'd finished his inspection; he waved his hand for Ty Lee to follow him, and then pulled the door ajar, and walked out.

"Zhen, where are you going?" She asked him in a hushed whisper standing by the metal door frame.

"Down to the prisons," He replied,

"We're gonna end this," He added, but more to himself then o his wife.

Ty Lee followed him out cautiously and was about to follow Zhen down the corridor but sopped and turned back to the room. Zhen looked behind him to make sure his wife was staying close behind him, but then realised that she wasn't there.

"What are you doing?!" Zhen asked her keeping his voice low, but loud enough for Ty Lee to hear him, as he stared at her back. He watched as she unclipped the ring of keys from her belt shut the door, and then quickly lock it.

"I'm making it look like you are still in the room," She replied to his previously asked question, hurrying to his side and taking his hand. He smiled at her and then let her lead the way down the many corridors.

Prison

Katara awoke with a start and immediately looked to the front of the cell, breathing a sigh of relief when she found her daughter still there sleeping peacefully. She silently crept over to her carefully manoeuvring around Aang and Akira, then as gently a she could, removed the blood stained bandages from around Kaiya's chest.

It didn't take her long to give Kaiya another healing session, Kaiya waking up in the middle of it, with a sharp hiss of pain. She didn't realise that Zuko and Rozin were awake until Zuko came over to Katara, helping her wrap the bandages back round Kaiya, and Kaiya bid Rozin good morning, but of course they were already awake, they rose with the sun.

Katara sighed slightly nervously, dreading the day that was sure to come, and the consequences that it was bound to hold. She knew that they had little time until they came for Kaiya, which meant little time for her to prepare herself. Zuko watched Katara's worried expression, so he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder,

"We're gonna get through this," He said to her. Katara turned her face to look at him, and he gave her a weak slightly unconfident smile to contrast what he had just said. Katara nodded her head infinitesimally, but didn't smile back at him in response.

"Still having doubts lil sis?" Sokka's voice rang out from behind them. Katara craned her neck round to look at her brother,

"How long have you been awake for?" She questioned as she watched her brother yawn and stretch, accidently hitting Suki in the face with one of his arms, since she was curled up on him, and causing her to wake up.

"Long enough," Was his response before he diverted his attention to his wife, and started to apologize to her.

It didn't take long for the others to awake after Sokka and Suki had, each one prepared for the long day ahead of them. There was only silence that filed the prison as they waited all breathing calm and steady; all except Iroh's whose breathing was short and slightly ragged.

The door at the top of the stairs opened and clanged hard against the metal wall behind it. Katara stood up and readied herself as did the others, each taking up their assigned positions but so as they weren't that conspicuous.

Katara waited ... and waited but no footsteps were heard. She listened carefully as did the others, not moving from where they stood, and Kaiya lying n the ground with her eyes shut, unmoving. A faint grunt came from the top of the stairs and a couple of seconds later, the prison guard tumbled down the stairs his unconscious form a heap at the bottom.

Katara looked over to Aang who just shrugged his shoulders looking as confused as she felt.

"Oh shit," A female voice said faintly, and then the sound of footsteps could be heard as two people descended down the stairs, arguing on the way.

"I said paralyse, not jab him in the back of the head to knock him out, and then send him flying head first down a set of metallic stairs!" A male voice said sarcastically,

"I didn't send him flying head first down the stairs, he fell down them after he was knocked out...and i didn't see you doing anything to help me," The female snapped back,

"I was the one that got him to unlock the door..."

"Well maybe you should have unlocked the door, after i paralysed him, and not before," The female cut the male's voice off. Everyone was shooting glances at each other as if to say 'What the hell is going on', including Kaiya who had propped herself up on her elbows, after moving her legs out of the way so that they didn't get crushed by the prison guard.

"MUM, DAD!" Koru called out from his cell as soon as his parents had reached the bottom of the stairs, just after Ty Lee had finished her sentence. They both looked in the direction of Koru, slightly confused at first for the smallest amount of time, before tears flooded Ty Lee's eyes and ran freely down her face. She said nothing but immediately ran over to the bars of the cell Koru and Rozin were in, and hugged her son tightly as best she could, whilst Zhen knelt down next to the prison guard and took the ring of keys from his belt.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Suki asked, overwhelmed to see that it was some of their friends,

"We just thought we come down here, and chill in the cells with you a while," Zhen said sarcastically. Sokka snickered a little, and Suki glared at him. He caught the look on her face out of the corner of his eye and immediately stopped. Zhen continued seriously this time,

"Were here to bust you out, what else?"

Zhen started to unlock the cell doors trying different keys in the cell doors, although the one Haru and Toph was in was quite obvious.... wooden cell.... wooden key, doesn't really take a genius to figure that one out. As soon as he had unlocked the door of the wooden cell, Toph all but flung herself out of it,

"Freedom at last! I can finally see!" She said, her voice brimming with happiness as she placed her hands and feet o the metal floor, scrunching it up, and moulding it into different shapes. Zhen then unlocked the cell containing his son and Rozin, and embraced his son tightly,

"I'm so glad you're okay," He said, not bothering to hold back the sudden wave of relief that washed over him, followed by tears.

Rozin ran out of the cell, straight over to Kaiya and gave her a gentle hug, avoiding putting any pressure on her wound, and then kissed her forehead.

Kaiya was quite a bit stronger and was able to stand for a short while, but was still unable to walk very far, let alone run, so Rozin had offered to carry her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, as he carefully slid his hands under her and picked her up off the stretcher, whilst she kicked the hem of the long white dress out of her way of her feet.

"Is everyone ready?" Aang asked once everyone was out of the cells,

"Wait, what about my uncle?" Zuko asked, purposely taking a step in the direction of the cell his uncle was in.

"I'm sure he'll be safer here. And that he'll still be here when this is over," Haru told him. Tia who had been looking over at the old man, curious about him, had been keeping track of the doses of whatever drug it was that Azula had ordered the Yu-Yan to give him. She had only met Iroh a few times, but they were when she was very small so she didn't really remember them.

"The Yu-Yan haven't given Iroh another dose for ... I'd say the past day and a half, so the effects of whatever drug it is, might wear off whilst were gone," She explained looking over to Iroh's still form.

"So to put it in more simpler terms, he'd wake up," Zade said once his sister had finished. Tia just frowned slightly but decided to ignore him.

Mai who had been silent, took the keys from Zhen's hand and went to unlock the door to Iroh's cell, and pulled it slightly ajar,

"Well, now if he does wake up he can come and find us," She said, handing the keys back to Zhen.

"So it's just us taking on the entire army Azula's got?" Kuzon asked nervously to no one in particular.

"Not exactly" Zhen replied. All eyes were on him at that point. Although Ty Lee already knew what he had organised, she still decided to listen.

"Well after Kaiya died .... I'm so sorry about your loss," Zhen said to Aang, Katara and Akira. He had forgotten all about Kaiya until that point, and didn't notice much else apart from his son when he came down to the prisons, so he didn't know that Kaiya was alive until she cleared her throat, and Rozin bought her forward. Zhen looked at her and almost had a heart attack induced by fear.

"WHAT THE .... HOW THE ...THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" Zhen spluttered,

"I'll explain later, but first we need to get out of here, we don't have much time," Aang said calmly. Zhen nodded still coming to grips with the fact that the once dead girl was now alive.

Whilst this had been going on, Sokka and Haru had managed to drag the prison guard into one of the metal cells, which they had then locked, after taking then giving the keys back to Zhen.

Once everyone was ready Zhen informed them of what he had arranged, which he was about to do before he had, had the shock of his life, and then they swiftly exited the prison's, staying close together.

Azula

Azula arrived at the solitary door much later then she had expected to, after having to attend to something which was supposedly important, but turned out to be nothing more than a pointless waste of time, and then having to go and check on Lin. To make sure that she was up and ready.

Ran nervously fumbled through his keys, eventually finding the right one, but before he unlocked the door in front of him, he ordered the two Yu-yan that had accompanied them, to stand at his flanks their bow and arrows armed and at the ready to fire on command.

Once he knew it was safe he turned the key in the lock and pushed it open. He was expecting something along the lines of a stream of fire to come hurtling towards him, once he had opened the door but instead he was greeted with an eerie silence and the pitch black darkness of the room before him.

Azula pushed past him and made her way into the room, blue flames in the palm of her hands to give her some light. The flames danced around her fingers, and the backs of her hands, threatening to lose control at the slightest thing. She breathed in and sent the flames out in a circle around her lighting up the entire room, not caring if anyone got burnt. Nothing was there. She turned around and scowled at Ran, her eyes glinting with furiosity.

"Is this some sort of a joke?" She asked through clenched teeth, anger boiling up inside her. Ran remained speechless, having no idea what to say. Then he started shaking his head quickly,

"N...no your h..Highness, I...I swear I put him in here m...myself," Ran stuttered, shuffling where he stood. Azula looked around.

"Well if he is in here then i must be blind," She said, her voice emotionless, yet her face was displaying all the anger and face that was boiling up inside her. Ran remained silent, his mind having gone blank forgetting how to do anything. The Yu-yan lowered their weapons seeing that there was no immediate danger, the only danger that would be coming from anything was the woman stood before them, in the middle of the darkly lit room, which contrasted with her pale face making her look extremely threatening and very, very dangerous. She swiftly moved out of the room and grabbed Ran by the collar of his clothes around his neck, and thrust him hard against the metal frame of the door.

"Do you think it's funny to waste my time?" She spat at him, her tone of voice deadly and full of rage. Ran could feel her hand beneath his chin heat up, growing hotter with every word that came out of her mouth. He was surprised that she hadn't fire bended yet, but more so that his clothes hadn't set on fire. The two Yu-yan stood watching intensely waiting for something to happen. Azula watched as a bead of sweat trickled down Ran's forehead and could feel his timid little body shaking nervously under her grasp. She watched him cowering away from her for a moment, then released her grip and put her fingers to her temples, massaging them.

"If you ever do anything like this again, I swear it will be the last mistake you will ever make," And without another word she turned and walked back down the corridor towards her quarters.

The two And without another word she turned and walked back down the corridor towards her quarters.

The two Yu-Yan walked off silently to go and practice their shooting, disappointed with the way things had turned out, leaving Ran to clear his throat and straighten out his clothes, wiping the sweat away from his brow with the back of his sleeve, all the while wondering if he had actually put Zhen in that room, or if it was nothing more than a very realistic dream.

Lin

Lin was sat in the middle of her bed meditating, which was until she heard her door squeak open making her lose her concentration. She opened her eyes just in time to see Azula strolling from the door to the end of her bed and sit down, massaging her temples.

Lin decided not to bother her since she knew Azula only did this when she needed to calm down. Instead she decided to go back to what she was doing before Azula had come in, and try to ignore the woman's presence all together.

The whole palace suddenly shook, so much so that it caused Azula to fall of the end of the bed, and Lin to flop onto her back.

"What in Agni's name was that?!" Azula said slightly shocked as she got to her feet, turning to look over at Lin. Lin sat up and just shrugged her shoulders having absolutely no idea. Why would she?

Azula motioned her hand for Lin to follow her, and Lin obeyed quickly not really having any other choice. They exited her room in order to find out what was going on, just as they were greeted by two Dai-Li agents, after having run down the corridor to find them. They bowed quickly,

"Firelord," One of them said frantically, panting as a result of being out of breath. Azula just raised one eyebrow, and Lin remained silent.

"The palace ......" He went on, but paused to catch his breath.

"Oh just spit it out!" Azula ordered frustrated and impatient.

"ITS UNDER ATTACK!"

* * *

**_Hi readers, really sorry for the amount of time its taken me to update my story, i got writers block and had now idea what to write for about six weeks, and i also had loads of college work to do. Hopefully though the next chapter should be up soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the small cliff hanger i left at the end for you. :)_**


	22. Fate kills

Azula and Lin

"WHAT!" She shouted furiously,

"That's not all your highness," The other Dai-Li agent said, gulping afterwards as Azula stood fuming before him.

"The prisoners have escaped," He added quickly. Azula screeched angrily, a line of blue erupting upwards from her mouth. Then she swiftly made her way to the nearest room that had a balcony that looked down onto the courtyard of the palace.

Instead of pushing the doors open she sent a blast of fire towards the two wooden panels and burnt them down. Lin who had followed behind her gasped as she saw the massive battalion that was advancing fast on the palace, all in different shades of blues, greens, and even some reds.

One of the catapults in amongst the sea of colours, hurled a boulder at the palace, straight towards Lin. Lin just stood there in shock and awe, forgetting how to move her feet, before Azula pulled her roughly back into the room, then pushed her arms to the opposite sides, making lightning crackle into existence, before sending it directly towards the boulder, blasting it into smithereens, creating a deafening crack which caused the guards behind her to cover their ears.

Lin stared at Azula's back, the woman's slim frame shaking slightly as she stared at what was in front of her. The army advancing on them was roughly the same size as the one Azula had, maybe just a little bigger, as she watched the oncoming hoard. Some of the Yu-yan took up a formation of rows, pointing their bow and arrows angled upwards and on command 'FIRE!' Shot more than a hundred arrows into the sky. Unluckily for them, the Earth benders on the opposing side bent a huge layer of rock over their heads to protect them, just before the arrows came down, causing them no damage.

Azula screamed furiously, but kept watching as the Dai-Li broke down their shield of rock, as the Yu-Yan sent another wave of arrows into the sky.

Lin quickly turned her back, not wanting to watch what happened next, but it didn't stop her from hearing the many pain filled, blood curdling screams, which would haunt her for the rest of her life, but in amongst the maddening noise, she swore she could hear Azula laughing. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to block out her surroundings, but was glad that Azula was momentarily distracted, because it meant that her brother and the others had a better chance of escaping even if they were still slim in the first place.

Azula turned round still fuming, a slightly crazed look in her eyes. She walked over to Lin and took her roughly by the wrist, shaking her until her eyes opened.

"War is pain," Azula said to her with a sort of smug little grin on her face, but Lin didn't quite have the time to comprehend what it looked like, because her facial expression rapidly changed to one of anger and pure hatred.

"Now let's go and see what our guests are up to, shall we?" She growled the rhetorical question through clenched teeth, as she dragged Lin out of the room keeping tight hold of her wrist.

Sokka, Mai, Jade Rozin and Kaiya.

Sokka led the way down the corridors of the palace with Rozin and Mai guiding him from behind. The group had split up into four thinking that they would have a better chance of escape and survival if they did.

Haru had gone with Zhen, Toph, Tia and Kuzon. Zuko had split with Suki, Akira, Sana and Tao leaving Aang, Katara. Ty Lee, Zade and Koru.

Jade ran by the side of her father water covering her arms which she had pulled from the air, as preparation just in case they ran into any enemies. Mai and Sokka were helpless without their weapons, which had been confiscated from them when they had been captured. Sokka was being led to Mai's room in which she had a different variety of weapons hidden in many places, so that they could use them and not be helpless anymore.

The guards had been set on high alert (the ones that weren't outside fighting), to recapture them which only made their situation worse.

"Which way?" Sokka said as he came to a T junction in the corridors.

"Left" Both Mai and Rozin replied together. Sokka turned in that direction, Jade by his side like glue. Rozin paused for a moment to catch his breath.

"Rozin you ok?" Mai asked turning back round to him when he wasn't following by her side. Kaiya looked up at him concerned as she lay in his arms.

"I'm fine," He replied,

"Just needed to catch my breath."

"Sokka, who had come back to them after realising they weren't following, put his arms out in a gesture for Rozin to put Kaiya into them.

"Just for a bit," Sokka said with a smile, as he saw Rozin ever so slightly tighten his grip on Kaiya. He hesitated for a moment, then quickly but a little reluctantly slid her into Sokka's well built arms, and then took the lead in Sokka's place. They turned left and carried on quickly down the corridor which was trimmed on both sides with tapestries of the fire nation insignia.

They hadn't been going down it for that long, until a scream of pain broke the silence. Rozin turned round just in time to see Sokka fall to the ground, sending Kaiya flying out of his arms, and both of them landing flat on their fronts with loud thuds. The second ting hat caught his eye was the three Yu-Yan advancing on them as they began to reload their bows with arrows.

"DAD!" Jade screamed as her mind came to grips with what was happening. Rozin growled angrily and ran towards the three men, dodging out the way of Kaiya and Sokka. He jumped in the air and flipped, thrusting his feet straight ahead of him before he landed sending a large, powerful jet of fire towards them. As he landed he shot four large balls of fire and then sent another stream of fire from one of his feet along the floor. Jade had appeared beside him, her face full of sadness and malice as she used the water around her arms, to douse the flames that were beginning to creep up the tapestries on the wall.

Two of the tree men lay on the floor crying in agony, but the third had managed to evade the fire that Rozin had sent at them. He shot an arrow towards Rozin, who sent a ball of flames straight at it, burning it into ashes before it even came anywhere near him or Jade, a smug smirk creeping onto his face, as the Yu-Yan stared at him furious, not used to being beaten by a child. His form suddenly went rigid, and both Rozin and Jade turned to look at Kaiya, who had managed to stand up, leaning heavily against the wall beside her, with one arm stretched out in front of her. Her face was contorted into a mask of pain and concentration, as she held the man in place. Rozin looked at the bandages around Kaiya, fresh blood beginning to soak through them and onto her white dress, so he quickly made his way towards her, and supported her weight, so the strain was taken off her wound.

Mai took advantage whilst the Yu-Yan was under Kaiya's control, and swiftly ran up to him, drew two arrows out of the quiver on his back, and forcefully plunged one into his chest and the other into his stomach. He gurgled in pain, before his body fell limp in Mai's hands which she then dropped, letting it land with a thud and a small crack. Mai cringed slightly as she realised it was one of the bones in his body that had broken when he landed. She then did the same to the two other Yu-Yan who were rolling around on the floor clutching at the parts of their body that had been burnt by Rozin. Once finished she hurried back to join Jade by her father's side.

Kaiya was knelt by his other side after Rozin had helped her there. Jade had bended some water from the air, which Kaiya was now using on Sokka, who was lying on his front. He had been shot twice in his back and once in his right leg by the Yu-yan, and his wounds were gushing out blood.

Sokka looked up at his daughter's tearstained face, her red eyes not stopping the flow of salty tears that ran down her rosy cheeks. He smiled weakly at her.

"I'll be okay sweetie," He croaked, his voice hoarse and barely a whisper. Jade looked up to Kaiya for confirmation of his words as did Mai. Tears started to blur Kaiya's vision as she slowly shook her head.

"But there must be something you can do!" Jade wailed, choking on her sobs, squeezing tight hold of her father's hand.

"I'm doing the best I can Jade, but the arrows are lodged in too deep, the damage is both internal and out, and he's lost a lot of blood .... I'm sorry," She explained, breaking down at the end, but still continuing to try and help Sokka.

Jade bit her lip to try and keep from crying as she looked back down to her father's face, but it didn't work and fresh tears splashed onto the floor beneath her. Sokka's eyes started to close, and Jade shook his shoulder causing them to open again,

"Dad stay with me." She told him sternly blinking more tears out of the way that obscured her vision. Sokka turned his eyes sideways to look up at her, smiling weakly.

"Jade...." He whispered but didn't manage to finish his sentence because he started to chock on blood. Jade quickly lifted his head up as best she could and bent the red liquid out of his mouth and away from him. Sokka's head lolled to the side and his eyes fell shut. Kaiya felt his heart beat slow as she tried to keep the flow of blood going round his body, and trying to make it stop gushing out of his wounds.

"Dad..." Jade shook him.

His heart beat slowed.

"DAD." Jade shook him harder.

Slowed.

"Jade..." Mai said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder knowing there was nothing that could be done.

"NO!" She screamed, shrugging Mai's hand roughly away in tears.

"Dad I love you, you have to stay with me..." Jade trailed off not being able to finish what she wanted to say as sorrow and unhappiness became too much for her to bear and she let herself breakdown into a convulsion of tears, the rest of her strength being used to keep her father's head supported.

Sokka's mouth curled up slightly as he tried to smile, then he took a deep breath, his eyebrows furrowing in pain.

"I love ... you ...too," He managed to choke out with his last breath.

His heart beat its last beat.

Haru, Zhen, Toph, Tia and Kuzon.

Tia and Kuzon followed behind Zhen, Haru and Toph. Zhen rounded a corner,

"Wait!" Kuzon called,

"Kuzon we don't have time to wait," Tia told him, grabbing his arm trying to pull him along behind her,

"We will if we take a shortcut," He replied to her, pulling his arm away from her grasp. He made his way towards one of the unlit torches lining the wall, and pulled it downwards. The wall rumbled and then slide aside creating a doorway which led to a dark narrow pathway. Toph humphed at having missed that, since she didn't detect anything from what she could feel beneath her feet.

"Zhen" Kuzon called picking up the unlit torch from its sconce, and holding it towards Zhen. Zhen took it and lighted it with a small flame from his fingertip, then gave it back to the young prince.

"Thanks." He said. He waited until everyone had gone in, and then followed behind them pushing a torch upwards on the other side of the doorway. Zhen led the way at the front creating light from a flame in the palm of his hand, and Kuzon followed at the back creating a small portion of light from the torch Zhen had lit for him.

"So, how did you get to know this was here?" Haru asked Kuzon,

"Well, A) I live here and B) I found it when me and my brother were having an argument. Long story short we were arguing about a sparring match we had, had earlier that day, and I ended up getting hung from that torch by the collar of my clothes, so the weight of my body pulled it down," Kuzon explained,

"I'm not even sure if my mum and dad know it's here," He added.

"So where does it come out?" Zhen asked intrigued, at having not known that there were any secret passages in the palace.

"Just by the main entrance of the palace, pretty handy if you ask me," Kuzon replied, although it wasn't really as enthusiastic as Zhen had sounded. There was a long pause of silence, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of small rocks being trodden on or kicked as the five of them moved in single file down the narrow passage.

"You and your brother fight a lot," Tia said, breaking the silence. Toph started to laugh,

"Err pot kettle black," She said to her daughter once she had stopped laughing. Tia remained silent but scowled in front of her in the direction of her mother. Kuzon smirked a little and then decided to reply to her.

"I guess it's cause we don't really see eye to eye. He's the crowned prince of the fire nation, so I guess it's why he acts more serious most of the time, takes matters into his own hands, and makes good decisions, and he's also a fire bender. Whereas I'm just his cocky little brother who doesn't really take that much seriously and I never make the right decisions, so to put it bluntly were complete opposites of one another." Tia mused for a moment as she took in the information.

"But you were the one who rescued Kaiya when she first came to the Fire Nation, the one who tried to protect me against those thugs when they ambushed us at the Western Air temple, and is always there for your brother when he needs you the most. Like when Kaiya got kidnapped for example, you were there for him then, so in my opinion you are none of the things that you just said you are," She explained,

"Actually I wasn't the one who rescued her, it was …." Tia cut him off,

"You were the one that stopped those thugs in the first place, not Rozin, and if you hadn't then I don't think we would have seen Kaiya in a very, Very long time." She concluded feeling smug when Kuzon didn't reply because she knew he knew that she was right. She could hear her mother and father sniggering in front of her but she chose to ignore it. Another paused filled the atmosphere, which Tia broke again,

"So Kuzon … You never did get the chance to tell me what you were going to tell me on the ship, when Kaiya and I escaped that wretched place." She said, hinting that she wanted to know what it was he was going to tell her. To be quite honest he had completely forgotten about it until she had bought it up.

"I…..Err…. I was just going to tell you that I hoped you recovered soon," He stammered, trying to think of something to say that would sound truthful. Tia's face fell slightly,

"Oh …. Um thanks I guess," She replied after thinking that it might have been something else.

'That's what you get for getting your hopes up' She thought to herself, 'Why did you think you even had a shot at being with him, when he's made it all to obvious that he doesn't feel the same way about you?'

"That's very sweet Kuzon, but we both know that that isn't the truth." Toph said, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Human lie detector, remember?" She added, pointing a finger downwards above her head, pointing at herself so that Kuzon would be able to see, which he did. Tia's heart skipped a beat, but then she mentally kicked herself at letting herself get her hopes up again.

"Crap forgot about that" Kuzon muttered to himself incoherently. Kuzon sighed he would have to tell her know, but he wouldn't announce it to everyone, so he walked up so that he was practically touching Tia's back, cupped his free hand over his mouth, and whispered what he was really going to tell her into her ear.

Tia was glad that Kuzon wasn't able to see her face as it was facing in front of her in the dim light, but didn't realise that he could feel her cheek get hotter under his hand. She nervously and slowly reached her hand up towards Kuzon's, and intertwined her fingers with his, silently breathing a sigh of relief when he didn't jerk his hand away. Kuzon didn't know how to react to Tia's action at first. Her hand felt so fragile and breakable in his, even though he knew that she was strong both physically and mentally, then he was overwhelmed with satisfaction, for finally admitting how he felt about Tia, and he gently squeezed her hand in return.

Toph smiled to herself after feeling their vibrations in the ground, knowing exactly what had gone on. She knew that her daughter had liked the young prince for some time now, after how she reacted whenever he came up in a conversation, and knowing that she was lying whenever she denied any accusations or thoughts about liking him. She was happy for them. Haru on the other hand would be a lot harder to convince but Toph knew that in time he would accept it.

They reached the end of the narrow passage way, and exited with the same method that they had entered with. Tia reluctantly let go of Kuzon's hand, which to his surprise he felt saddened at, but he pulled himself together knowing now that he could hold it any time he wanted … Well maybe not any time.

They made their way out into the courtyard, squinting their eyes as the brilliant sunlight blinded them. As soon as their eyes had adapted to the light, each one of them gasped even Toph, as they saw (Toph seeing with her feet), the size of the battalion that had come to their aid, all with the help of Zhen.

Zuko, Suki, Sana, Tao and Akira

Zuko led the way to the back entrance of the palace, Akira followed at the back leaving the others protected in the middle. Luckily they didn't come across any threats and they managed to get out of the palace without any harm coming to them. Suki had agreed with Zuko that they would part ways with one another once they had gotten out, Suki going into the city with the kids, and taking them as far away from danger as she could, whilst Zuko would go back and join Aang and help him face Azula. Suki picked up Tao and took Sana's hand, then motioned with her head for Akira to follow them.

"I want to go with Zuko," Akira said deliberately taking a step in Zuko's direction,

"Akira it's too risky and dangerous for you to go back there," Suki said,

"But I want to help," He replied stubbornly. Zuko walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, then gently steered him towards Suki,

"You'll be helping all of us if you stayed with your aunt and your cousin's," He told Akira, retracting his hand,

"Who else will be there to use their bending if you run into a spot of bother?" Zuko questioned. Akira just shrugged,

"No one," He eventually replied,

"Exactly, but with you protecting them with your abilities, you'll have them running away in no time just like the cowards they are," Zuko explained. Akira sighed in agreement to stay, but also in defeat. Then he turned his face up to look at Zuko, his grey eyes meeting his golden ones as they stared up into his seriously. Whenever Akira did this, he looked wiser beyond his years, something he'd obviously inherited from his father.

"Just promise me that you make sure the rest of them are safe," Akira said, his tone serious, all hints of childhood gone from it making him sound like a grown man. Zuko couldn't promise anything and nor would he, since he couldn't control the fate or future of the ones he cared about, so he just gave him an awkward looking smile and said,

"I'll try my best." Suki took this as her cue to part ways with Zuko, giving him an awkward hug as she still had Toa in one of her arms, and wishing him look, before turning and walking into the city. Even thought they had tattered clothes, and cuts and bruises all over their faces and other parts of their body, they didn't care. As long as they were finally free from the nightmare they had been living in, they didn't give a damn as to what they looked like.

Zuko waited until Suki was no longer in sight, before he took a deep breath preparing himself, and then made his way back to the palace.

Azula and Lin

Azula was sat in the throne room; Lin sat on her right hand side. Lin looked over to Azula, she looked so calm yet something was strangely off about her, which Lin couldn't quite put her finger on, no matter how hard she tried. The double doors suddenly opened and two guards came in dragging something behind them. Azula leaned forward in her throne intrigued to see what it was. When they came closer Lin gasped.

It was a body.

Closer.

Sokka's body.

They dragged him in front of Azula, and then dumped his lifeless body on the floor beneath her.

"The Yu-Yan I see," Azula remarked completely at ease, as she eyed the three arrows that protruded from Sokka.

"Where did you find him?" She questioned interested,

"He was just abandoned in one of the corridors along with the bodies of three Yu-Yan," One of the guards replied,

"He wasn't armed and two of the Yu-Yan had been badly burnt, then all of them stabbed with their own arrows," He went on.

"Any news of the other prisoners, or anything about how things are going on outside?" Azula questioned changing the subject, not really interested with how some of her own men had died. The guards shook their heads,

"Nothing as of yet your highness, but we will be sure to inform you of any progress we make." Azula nodded once, and then waved her hand for them to go. They were about to pick up Sokka's body to take it out, but Azula stopped them,

"No … leave him here, I'm sure it'll be a nice little surprise for the ones we capture alive," She sneered, that sickening canine excuse for a smile creeping onto her face, bearing her teeth. The guards bowed then left.

Lin felt as though she was about to throw up, seeing Sokka's lifeless body on the floor in front of her, knowing that his three kids now didn't have a father, and Azula was completely fine with that fact. Then the slightest amount of hope crept up inside her. Maybe the Avatar would be able to do the same thing for Sokka as he had done for Kaiya, but she couldn't smile, not now, because if Aang was captured Azula would kill him, making him go into the Avatar state before she did. Lin knew exactly what her plan had been, and with no Avatar, she would be free to take control and carry out the work that her father failed to complete.

Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, Zade and Koru

Like Zuko had agreed with Suki, Ty Lee had agreed with Aang and Katara that she would take the kids and lead them to safety, then Aang and Katara would meet up with Zuko and go to face Azula.

Katara led at the front of them, her face a twisted mask of hatred and revenge, blood bending any guards that came at them with ease, and throwing their rigid forms into anything hard or sharp she could find. They rounded another corner, Ty Lee having got used to everything with the time she spent working as a guard when she had been brainwashed. Katara took out four more Dai-Li making it look effortless and easy, her face not changing out of the mask that was plastered across it.

Koru let out a sharp cry of pain and Katara immediately turned around, followed by Aang and then Ty Lee. Two Yu-Yan had snuck up behind them, and Koru (who was now lying on the floor crying and whimpering in pain), had been shot in his left shoulder. Katara growled menacingly but Ty Lee was already running towards them, dodging nimbly out of the way of all the arrows that the Yu-Yan shot at her. Zade bent a protective wall in front of them, letting the arrows that Ty Lee had dodged bounce harmlessly of it.

Once he lowered it, he saw one of the men sprawled across the floor, his head in a weird position, then he realised that Ty Lee had broken his neck, but the other was still alive and was dodging every one of Ty Lee's attacks.

He hit her hands out of the way when she tried to jab him to paralyse him, and ducked under every punch she swung at him. Zade watched in fear, not knowing what to do, he didn't want to use metal bending just in case he accidently caught Ty Lee due to the fast pace they were moving at.

Zade kept watching, but didn't see when the Yu-Yan pulled a dagger from his belt. Nor did he see it when Ty Lee made a mistake, a wrong move, letting the Yu-Yan move in quickly, plunging his dagger into her chest. Zade only saw when Ty Lee staggered away from him, blood dribbling down her fingers and staining her clothes. She struggled to breathe, then her strength failed her and she collapsed onto the floor. That's when Katara came in and shot a sharp spike of ice precisely at the man, sending it straight through his heart and out the other side. Zade turned his head away from the grizzly sight, as the man fell to his knees, and then onto his face.

Katara quickly ran over to where Ty Lee had fallen, pulling water from the air as she ran. Ty Lee's hands fell from her chest, her grasp too weak to keep hold of the handle of the dagger, the only thing that could be seen, since the entire blade had pierced and gone into her chest. She gasped for breath, but also in excruciating pain, as Katara knelt by her side, and began to pull the dagger out. As soon as the blade had left Ty Lee's chest, she threw it aside as Ty Lee let out an ear splitting scream. But Katara was helpless; the dagger having pierced Ty Lee's heart, with blood pumping profusely out of the large wound, the blade had created.

Ty Lee raised her bloody hand, and grasped Katara's arm with what little strength she had left. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but her grasp weakened and her hand fell limp by her side. Her head lolled to the side and no matter how many times Katara screamed for her to stay with her, Katara placing her hands over the wound to try and heal it, it didn't work. Ty Lee fixed her gaze on her son, a single tear rolled down her cheek before her breathing stopped, and blood began to drip from her mouth.

Katara sobbed uncontrollably as she gently closed Ty Lee's glazed over eyes, and slowly rose to her feet, raising a blood stained hand and placing it over her mouth as she didn't know what to say or do, saddened at her friend having died.

She heard a yelp come from Koru, and then remembered that he had been injured. She quickly made her way back towards them trying to dry her eyes with the back of her hand, but ended up smearing blood across her face which she then had to wipe off with part of her robes.

Aang had already pulled the arrow out, probably why she had heard Koru yelp in pain just before, and had ripped part of his tattered robe off, which was now using to soak up the blood that was leaking from his wound, and apply pressure to it. He removed his hands and the bloody piece of fabric when Katara knelt down beside them, and then proceeded to heal the wound with the water that she had tried to save Ty Lee with unsuccessfully.

Once she had completely healed the wound she stood without a word, and walked over to Zade who was stood in a shell shocked state at having been witness to Ty Lee's death, staring at the dagger that had been used to kill her, and was still dripping with her blood.

"Where's my mum?" Koru asked as Aang helped him stand up. Katara turned around to face him, turning Zade around with her. No one answered Koru's question. Koru looked over to where the two Yu-Yan had been, noticing a third figure lying motionlessly on the floor nearby them.

"Mum?" He questioned, starting to walk towards her, but Aang held him back.

"LET GO OF ME!" He screamed when he realised the figure was his mother, thrashing in Aang's grip, not caring about the pain it created in his shoulder, because the pain he was feeling right now was far worse. He managed to free from Aang's grip and ran to Ty Lee, tears streaming down his face. He stopped by her side, and then fell to his knees, before picking up her limp body in his arms, her blood soaking his clothes, and running down his arms, as he wailed loudly.

Aang, Katara and Zade hurried over to him knowing that they didn't really have the time, but also saddened at the thought of having to take Koru away from his mother.

Two Dai-Li agents appeared suddenly, and Zade automatically bent a metal wall in between them and the Dai-Li, but also cutting of their escape way. Koru had to be forcibly dragged away from his mother, screaming and pleading for them to let him stay with her. A heart breaking sight to all three of them. Eventually Zade had to put him in a pair of makeshift metal cuffs, binding his hands behind his back to prevent him from jabbing and paralysing any of them. Aang had then picked him up and put him over his shoulder so that they wouldn't have any trouble in moving on, but by this point Koru had stopped struggling and was crying none stop. But now they had no one to guide them through the palace, and Katara now had to take the kids and lead them to safety. One less person to help Aang and Zuko face Azula, and whoever would be there protecting her.

"Ready?" Zade asked, getting into his stance, his hands on the metal wall in front of them, as he prepared himself to bend it back down to the floor.

"Ready," Katara growled getting into her stance as well; Aang just nodded securing his grip on Koru. Zade breathed out, and pushed the metal downwards, letting it fall back to the floor with a clang. Four other Dai-Li had joined the previous two. Zade didn't have time to blink before all six of the men were rigid. He looked over to Katara whose face was full of disgust, but had a sinister smirk on it. Zade looked back over to the six rigid forms and quickly encased them in metal.

Katara relaxed her form a little, and then pulled some water from the air around her. She then froze it into hundreds of deadly shards of ice.

"Look away," She told Zade emotionlessly, and then sent the shards hurtling towards the six trapped men. Zade quickly turned his head before it was too late, but still heard the screams of the men as they cut of almost instantly, and was surprised that he could hear the sound of flesh being pierced over and over again. He looked up to Aang and even he had averted his eyes from what Katara had done.

Zade then felt Katara take his hand and told him to keep his eyes shut. He did as he was told knowing that she had his best interests at heart, then she guided him down the corridor and past the Dai-Li, with Aang and a now quiet Koru, who just stared dejectedly at the floor beneath him following behind.

* * *

**_Hi readers. Phew longest chapter so far, took a while to think of what to write, and then type it up. Anyway i hope you enjoyed reading it, but the next chapter might take a while, seen as i have only drafted some of it out so far. Please R&R to tell me what you thought. :)_**


	23. Enough

Mai, Jade, Rozin, and Kaiya

Jade was sat in the middle of the floor in Mai's and Zuko's bedroom, staring off into space, her mind blank as she thought of nothing, whilst Mai scuttled around the room, opening and closing drawers, cupboards, reaching under their four poster bed, pulling out a large variety of weapons that she had at her disposal, which she then placed strategically in her robes.

Rozin had found Kaiya some fresh, clean bandages, helping her put them on once she had taken the old bloodstained ones off, and dumped them in a heap on the floor, no-body really cared.

Jade's blank mind suddenly snapped back into reality as she watched the handle on the door, (she didn't know she had been staring at absentmindedly), move. She immediately rose, so quickly that she hadn't even realised that she'd done it. Jade quickly scanned the room until she found what she was looking for, and then took a deep breath.

The door suddenly flew ajar, scaring the others witless, but Jade remained unmoved. She quickly put the thought of her father's dead body lying in her arms into her mind, (even though it pained her to do so), and remembered the amount of hatred and sadness that she felt at that moment of time, and how much she wanted revenge. Her blank, tearstained face crumpled into a scowl of malice. She rose her arms concentrating as hard as she possibly could, then took control of the two Dai-Li that stood in the doorway, before they even had time to make a move, or react.

She then swiftly moved their rigid bodies to the opposing wall, where Mai was stood next to a bureau. Mai picked up the two daggers which she had placed on the bureau, and stabbed each one into the men. Jade quickly dropped the men from her control when she felt the daggers enter their chests, then ran over to the door and shut it, feeling disgusted at herself.

There was silence for a moment as Mai took the daggers out of the two men, and wiped them clean on their clothes, as Rozin and Kaiya stood looking at Jade in shock. Jade leant her back against the door and started to cry again, as she tried to get the image of her dead father out of her mind, but with no prevail.

Mai walked over and comforted her as best she could. It took Jade a while to calm down, but she eventually managed it. Once Jade had stopped crying, falling back into her catatonic state, and once Mai was ready, and Rozin had gotten Kaiya sorted out, they made sure that the coast was clear, before heading out of the room, and back down the corridors to escape.

Suki, Sana, Tao, and Akira

Suki had taken the three kids to the cheapest and most quiet restaurant that she could find, in the city, she had begged for money so that she could buy something to eat, no matter how small it was; at least they had something decent to eat.

She sat with Tao in her arms, stroking his head gently, whilst staring at Akira who was staring dejectedly at his bowl of soup, Suki had bought for him.

She reached over the table and took one of his hands in hers, smiling warmly at him when he looked up at her.

"Their gonna be fine Akira, trust me" She said, her voice shaking just the slightest bit, as she knew the possible outcomes. Akira suddenly stood up,

"Why do you keep saying that, when you know yourself that it might not be true, this is Azula we're talking about here, not some angry sabortooth moose lion!" He yelled at her. Suki put her son on the seat next to his sister, then got up and walked round the table to comfort Akira.

Luckily they were sat on a table outside the restaurant, and the street it was on barely had any people in it, but Suki ignored the few heads that turned in their direction. She sighed and sat him back down in his seat.

"I say it because it makes me feel better, gives me hope that everything will be alright, even though I know it may not be," She said to him with a small smile, before quickly changing the subject,

"Now eat your soup before it gets cold, and because you need some decent food in you," She told him, prodding his stomach, and then pulling his soup towards him.

He sighed, knowing there wasn't much point in arguing with her, before lifting a spoonful of soup towards his lips. He paused for a moment, listening. Suki watched him confused,

"Akira what are you..."

"Shh," Akira said cutting Suki off. Suki closed her mouth and waited. Akira stayed listening, putting the spoon back in his soup, focusing on one voice in particular he could hear, that sounded very familiar.

He rose from his seat and walked towards the voice, ignoring Suki as she called after him. He walked down the street from the restaurant, and rounded the corner at the end, froze for a second, then scowled angrily, and sent six separate streams of air, towards the six guards that surrounded his mother, Zade and Koru, knocking each one of them backwards onto the floor.

Koru, who had been taken out of the makeshift metal cuffs Zade had put him in, moved quickly, jabbing each one at a pressure point in their necks, paralysing them.

Akira ran to his mother and hugged her tightly, as she bent down to pick him up, hugging him just as tight, her face full of relief to see that he was alright. Suki came round the corner, not long after and smiled warmly as she realised who was stood in front of her.

Once their little reunion had finished, and they had safely dispatched of the guards, ignoring the stares that they received in the process, Akira then pulled his mother back to the restaurant they had been sat at, Zade and Koru following behind.

"I'm so glad you're alright mum," Akira said hugging Katara again. Katara smiled warmly at him, telling him the same. She made sure that were ok, before walking out of hearing range from them with Suki.

Suki looked back at Koru's bloodstained clothes, as he sat down quietly with the other kids, and then back to Katara,

"I thought you were going with Aang, did you swap with Ty Lee or..." Suki whispered, trailing off at the end of her sentence. . Katara remained quiet for a while, looking over at the kids as they talked amongst one another, before she turned her back them and replied to Suki.

"Ty Lee..." She paused taking in a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears that were brimming in her eyes. Suki stood and waited patiently but knowing that from Katara's behaviour that it couldn't possibly be good.

"Ty Lee was killed," Katara whispered quietly. Suki's eyes widened, and she bought her hand to her mouth in shock. She knew that the news Katara was going to give her wasn't good, but death did not cross her mind. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she processed the information that she had just heard.

The woman whom she had become to be friends with, and had spent years with training, had been killed. Suki shook her head and blinked some more tears from her eyes, as they obscured her vision. She then looked over to Koru who was sat staring at the table in front of him, his face blank.

Katara then gathered herself together and walked back over to the table, sitting herself down in one of the free chairs, and then pulling Akira onto her lap, and hugging him tight.

Suki wiped her eyes dry with her sleeve and tried to put on a cheery expression, so that her kids wouldn't get suspicious, but by the expression on Zade's and Koru's faces, she already knew that they were. Once she knew what was happening she would tell them, not that they really knew who Ty Lee was anyway, but she still would.

She finished wiping away the rest of her tears, then walked back to the table, putting on the same facade as Katara was.

Haru, Zhen, Toph, Tia and Kuzon.

The five of them were immediately shielded with earth protecting them from each side as soon as they emerged from the palace doors, along with a booming voice that echoed above the deafening noise of the fight going on.

"Protect the royal family at all costs, keep them safe!"

The walls of earth began to move making the five of them move with it. Toph felt the vibrations in the earth of the hundreds of men and women on the battlefield, and tried to decipher which ones were on their side, and which ones weren't, so that she could try and help out, but there were so many of them she found it difficult. So she focused on helping to hold the shield of earth around them, repairing any damage to it when it was hit as someone on the opposing side tried to penetrate it.

"Lady Toph, would you be able to create a small hole in one of the earth walls for me?" Zhen asked her, shouting over the noise. Toph nodded and created a small slit in one of the walls of earth by Zhen. He turned and looked through the slit onto the battlefield, pinpointing some enemies, and sending blasts of fire at them, through the small slit Toph had made.

He managed to burn some of the enemies that he had pinpointed, but one of the Yu-Yan had spotted where the slit was, and precisely shot an arrow through it, hitting Zhen in the top of his arm. Zhen let out a cry of pain, and Toph immediately closed the slit in the earth.

"Zhen are you alright, what's happened?" Tia asked concerned, Kuzon standing close behind her, whilst her parents concentrated on trying to keep them safe. Zhen turned to face them full on, showing them the side he had been shot in, which had been facing away from them.

Tia ripped part of her robe off into a long strip, and then tied it tightly above Zhen's wound to try and slow the flow of blood. Kuzon then distracted him to avert his eyes away from his wound, with the first question that popped into his mind.

"Hey Zhen do you reckon you'd be able to show me what you do one day?" Zhen looked up at Kuzon, taking his eyes away from his wound, slightly shocked that the young prince had asked this sort of question, and also as enthusiastically, which wasn't like Kuzon at all.

"Ummm ... I mean yes, o-of course," Zhen replied to him, quite happily,

"That would be gre AHHHHH!" Zhen cried in agony in the middle of his sentence, as Tia yanked the arrow out of his arm.

"Sorry, sorry," She apologised quickly with the bloodstained arrow in her hands,

"But hey, look on the Brightside ... at least its out," She said, holding the arrow in front of his face, with a smallish grin gracing her lips. Kuzon then helped Tia wrap some more material around Zhen's wound, from their robes, before the four walls of earth suddenly came to a standstill. The walls dropped to the floor, and each of them were immediately escorted away from the battlefield, by a member of the Earth kingdoms army.

Zhen got taken to a couple of water benders, obviously healers who were there to help the wounded, whilst the others were safely escorted away from the palace. Haru and Toph made sure Tia and Kuzon were safely out of harm's way, back towards the palace to see if they could help.

Tia watched them go, before a girl from the Fire nation, who was fighting for them, walked up to them. She bowed to both of them in respect before saying;

"Your highnesses, I have been given the task of guiding you through the city to find your friends. Sorahiko here will be accompanying us." She pointed upwards towards a boy also from the Fire nation, with a large katana strapped to his back. He looked about 16, his black hair in a casual disarray which wouldn't suit anyone else, but this boy pulled it off well. He jumped down from the roof of one of the houses he had been sat on, looking over toward the palace where the battle was, his expression full of boredom.

He bowed his head slightly as he approached Tia and Kuzon, before stopping in front of them, glancing at their shabby clothes before saying;

"Call me Sora," Then he yawned and stretched. Sora was dressed in a loose shirt, with a los v-neck so you could see the muscles of his chest, his sleeves rolled up exposing his well built arms. Loose black pants and sandals, and no matter how much Tia tried, she couldn't not stare at him.

"So how long do we have to babysit these two kids for Rima?" Sora asked, as he slung his arm casually around her shoulders.

"As long as it takes Sora," She replied frowning at him. Rima was about the same age as the boy, her long, straight, black hair tied back into a high ponytail, her razor straight bangs falling into her eyes. She also had loose fitting clothes on, with sandals, as well as a large katana, but strapped around her waist and not on her back like Sora's was. Sora groaned in response,

"Why did we have to end up with this task, I mean why can't we be out there where all the action is, instead of here with two kids," He moaned, pointing in the direction of the palace. Rima swatted him one round the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward a little bit.

"What was that for?" Her asked her slightly shocked, but mostly annoyed.

"For being rude, you should be grateful that you've been given the task of protecting two members of two royal families, from both your home nation, and a different one!" She glared at him, then glanced at Tia and Kuzon apologetically, while they stood trying their hardest not to laugh. Sora collected himself frowning at Rima, before he straightened out his expression and shrugged.

"I guess so, but if I don't get any action fighting, then you'll just have to replace it later," He told her, a grin spreading across his face. Rima rolled her eyes and sighed,

"Sora, that's a pointless waste of time, we both know that you're not going to win against me, so all you'll be doing is tiring yourself out," She explained.

"Hey, that's not true, I beat you last week and I'll do it again!" Sora said, moving his hand up towards the handle of his katana, Rima just shrugged ignoring him, then looked to Tia and Kuzon,

"You two ok?" She asked. Kuzon nodded,

"We're fine," He said,

"And we don't need looking after, no matter if you were assigned this task, we don't need you ... either of you," He added, his eyes drifting over to Sora who had gone to lean against the wall of the house he had been sat on before, after Rima ignored him, as he said the last part. He then took Tia by the wrist and dragged her off into the city. Rima looked over to Sora, who just shrugged and pushed himself off the wall, then followed Tia and Kuzon, Rima by his side.

Aang

After splitting up from Katara, koru and Zade making sure that they were safe, Aang was making his way down the corridors to go to the meeting place that Zuko had told him to meet him at, previously having been told the directions of how to get there.

He was surprised that he hadn't run into anymore guards, but for that he was grateful. As he ran up to a T-junction in the corridors he heard a faint cry ahead of him. He carried on running, and as soon as he came to the end he was knocked sideways, Zuko crashing into him and landing on top of him.

"What the..." Aang said confused as he looked up at Zuko, who quickly scrambled to his feet, then grabbed Aang by the wrist and hauled him upwards, before carrying on down the corridor, dragging Aang behind him.

"Zuko what's up?" Aang asked him confused, keeping pace with Zuko who seemed to be out of breath. Zuko just pointed behind him and carried on running. Aang turned his head in the direction Zuko was pointing in, only to find that there was nothing there.

"Is there something I'm supposed to be looking at?" He asked Zuko confused. Zuko let go of Aang's wrist, having forgotten that he still had hold of it, then slowed his pace down and turned round to look behind him. Nothing was there.

"I think spending that much time in prison made you slightly delusional," Aang said to him, a slight mocking smirk on his face, but at the same time he was concerned.

Zuko just flicked his hand down and shook his head, as if to say 'forget about it'. They stood in silence for a moment, Zuko stood looking confused.

"Come on," Aang said

"We better keep moving." He snapped his fingers in front of Zuko's face to get his attention. Once he had, he motioned his hand and started to walk the way that they had been running in. He stopped after a couple of steps. Something didn't feel right. The atmosphere felt uneasy. Now it was Zuko's turn to ask what's up, but Aang just shushed him, listening carefully. He slowly turned his head slightly to his right, and then in a split second he turned and dived on Zuko, pushing him backwards and out of the way of four arrows which had been aimed directly at him.

Zuko looked at the arrows which hit the floor where he had just been stood, and then at Aang, eyes wide as he watched him stand up quickly, before collecting himself and doing the same, getting into his stance the same time Aang did.

"Very good, mind you I didn't expect anything less from the Avatar," a male voice rang out, echoing off the surrounding walls of the corridor, but both Zuko and Aang remained calm, their stances unmoved, their expressions calm and relaxed.

Aang darted his eyes around the corridor to try and locate the person who had spoken, but he saw nothing, he furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance.

"Show yourself!" He demanded, but not shouting it, he didn't want to attract anymore unwanted attention.

"As you wish," The voice merely replied calmly, and a few seconds later after those words were spoken, Ran walked towards them, his hands behind his back, his expression unsettlingly calm. Aang narrowed his eyes at him, as did Zuko, but Ran's creepy expression remained the same, unmoved.

"You've caused us quite a bit of trouble," He said to them. Neither of them responded to him, not even the slightest of movements.

"Don't make any sudden movements," Aang whispered to Zuko, so only he could hear. Zuko nodded the slightest bit, neither of the having taken their eyes off of Ran. Ran stood slightly confused as to why Aang or Zuko hadn't moved, or tried to kill him, and he eventually got fed up and waved his hand up, beckoning the three Yu-yan and four Dai Li agents that were on the ceiling above them, to drop down both in front of and behind Aang and Zuko, but neither of them flinched, both of them keeping their calm expressions.

Aang had known that they were there, and guessed Zuko had picked up on it, when he had told him not to make any sudden movements, which was indeed the case.

Ran walked to stand just behind two of the Dai-Li agents, looking at Zuko and Aang,

"Now if you two co-operate then I'll make sure these nice men here won't kill you, but if you don't …. Well I think you understand," He said to them, his eyes glinting. Aang smirked slightly which made Ran frown.

"You think that these seven men, not including you can kill the Avatar, and the Firelord, because if that is the case then you are strongly mistaken," Aang told him calmly. Ran smirked,

"I knew you would say something like that, which is why I arranged a little surprise for you, which might make you change your mind." He clicked his fingers twice, and two more Dai Li agents came into view, holding a very angry and restless Rozin between them. Zuko growled and Aang quickly moved behind him to hold him back.

"YOU BASTARD!" He shouted at Ran furiously, struggling in Aang's arms. Aang kept tight hold of him and narrowed his eyes at Ran, then quietly whispered in Zuko's ear.

"Zuko calm down, this is exactly what he wants, you make one wrong move you could kill us, and I'm pretty sure that means your son as well." Zuko growled again, but stopped struggling and looked over at Rozin who was trying his best to get away from the two men. Ran smiled,

"Will you co-operate now?" He asked, grinning at Zuko who just glared back at him. Aang's eyes and tattoo's quickly flashed white, making the Dai Li and Yu yan take a step back. He fixed his gaze on Ran, his eyes as hard as steel as he spoke through his teeth,

"This has gone on for too long, you have unsettled the peace that this world has come to know, by working with that sick, disgusting excuse for a woman. I've tried to hold myself back but right now I'm finding it extremely difficult, so if you value what little life you have, I suggest that you leave now."

Each one of the men stood round Zuko and Aang, all except Ran, looked to each other petrified, unsure of what to do. Meanwhile Rozin had managed to grab hold of one of the men's arms that were holding him, burning it as much as he could until he felt the blood under his palm, before letting him fall to the ground, then he turned to the other and punched a fist full of flames into his chest, he didn't care if either of them were dead or not, as the other one fell to the floor. He then turned to Ran who had his back towards him.

"Rozin No!" Zuko yelled, about to move towards him until one of the Dai Li shot his rock hands at him pinning his feet to the floor. Aang breathed in and sent seven separate blasts of air towards the men around them, knocking each one of them into the walls of the corridors, knocking them out and breaking a few bones due to the force, then he turned back to face Ran before freezing.

Whilst Aang and Zuko had been preoccupied, Ran had pulled a hidden dagger out from under his robes, aware that the young prince was coming towards him, and just as Rozin had reached him about to punch a fiery fist through his back, Ran had thrust his hand with the dagger in, backwards into the unsuspecting Rozin's chest.

He smirked when he saw Aang and Zuko stood motionless due to shock, and slowly twisted the dagger in Rozin's chest causing him to let out an ear splitting scream, and spit blood on the floor in front of him.

"Your son is a foolish boy," Ran said to Zuko once Rozin's scream had died down into sobs of pain, letting the handle of the dagger go, before running in the opposite direction to them. Zuko managed to free his feet as his son collapsed to his knees gasping, and quickly moved over to him, catching Rozin in his arms before he fell on the floor. Aang's eyes and tattoo's glowed white.

"Take your son away from here quickly, and find Katara, I'm going to end this," He said to Zuko before completely going into the Avatar state, and sending a stream of fire towards Ran's small figure. As soon as it had caught up to him, Aang moved his hands causing the fire to wrap around Ran's neck, and then he pulled his hands towards him, dragging Ran back by the fire. He let it die away as soon as Ran was on the floor in front of him, squirming and screaming in pain.

Aang then picked him up by the collar of his robes, his face a mask of pure hatred and anger as he lit his other free fist on fire before punching it straight through his chest, pushing his heart out of his back and leaving a gaping hole, not caring when Ran screamed, before it faded into a gurgle and then silence. He dropped the body to the floor and let the heart smoulder into a pile of ash in the palm of his hand, before his eyes and tattoo's faded back to normal.

During this, Zuko had picked Rozin up and sprinted off down the corridors. It wasn't long at all until he had reached the back entrance of the palace, where he had taken Suki and the others before, and was glad he hadn't run into anyone.

He sprinted through the city shouting for Katara, holding his as close to him as he possibly could.

"Dad" Rozin croaked, Zuko looked at him quickly, and then back p to concentrate on where he was going,

"Dad …. Am I going to …. To die?" Rozin asked him, furrowing his eyebrows as each word caused him so much pain. Zuko blinked some tears out of the way of his vision, and carefully pulled his sons head to his, and kissed his forehead still sprinting through the city.

"No son …. You aren't going to die," Zuko told him as confidently as he could possibly manage, as he tried to persuade himself as well as his son.

He rounded a corner in one of the streets, and saw Mai Kaiya and Jade walking to a small restaurant where the others were. Katara looked up just as he rounded the corner, and her gaze immediately focused on the pale faced Rozin. She got up and pushed everything off the table in front of her as Zuko sprinted towards them.

Rozin looked up at his father as he put him down on the now empty table, focusing on his father's face as he heard faint, distant screams of panic, and orders being issued around him.

He felt the pain in his chest become unbearable causing him to scream and arc his back, before it numbed and he felt cold, then he slowly slipped into darkness.

**_Hi readers, really sorry about how long it took to update this chapter, i had writers block for ages and then i've had exams etc that i was focusing on, and lots of other things. I hope you enjoy this chapter and i'll try not to take as long to update the next one but i can't make any promises .._**


	24. Ready

Eyes open meeting the gaze of many anxious stares. You say my name so softly and tenderly yet also with subtle hesitation, for you fear that it may break as soon as it has left your lips, like the shattering of glass as it hits a stony floor. My blurred vision finally comes into focus and I am able to see your face clearly, your eyes red and wet from crying, your skin pale and the dark circles under your eyes from the lack of sleep. Your hair sways with the gentle breeze that passes, stray strands blowing in front of your face, and yet you are still beautiful.

I then shift my eyes to the other faces that surround me, faces with a mixture of worry and sadness masked upon them. I try to comprehend the reasons for these solemn looks and then I remember.

The pain.

The fear.

The sadness.

My mind flashes back to what happened before the darkness engulfed me. I manage to slowly move my hand to my chest, and feel the soft fabric of bandages beneath my fingertips. The excruciating pain that I had felt before was no longer there, now instead my chest felt numb, which I gladly welcomed.

I look back to you and you smile warmly at me, but I can see in your eyes that you are still worried no matter how much you try to hide it from me. You look up to your mother concerned, who smiles at you and nods her head. I am confused as to what is happening as you look back at me and then tell me to rest. Only now do I feel the exhaustion and tiredness. I shift my eyes once more around the other faces, their expressions now changed to ones of relief and happiness, but I can still detect the small signs of worry that remain in the eyes of some.

My eyes finally come to rest on your face again; you have a little more colour in your face, unlike before. You lean down and softly kiss my cheek as I shut my eyes; your warm lips send a faint shiver down my spine as they come into contact with my unusually cold skin. Then I hear you quietly whisper the words 'I love you' in my ear, before I fall asleep with a smile on my face.

Tia, Kuzon, Sora and Rima

Rima had stopped at a stall in the street that they were in to get Tia and Kuzon something to eat, figuring that they must be starving after spending so much time locked up and probably not being fed well. Whilst Rima was doing that, Sora had taken them to one of the tables not that far away so that they could rest for a bit. Sora swung his feet up onto the table leaning back in his chair, Kuzon rolled his eyes,

"Can't you sit at a table properly?" He asked looking at him. He looked back at Kuzon for a while, studying him before replying,

"Actually no I can't, because unlike you I wasn't raised in a fancy place, and if you think I'm gonna change because you're royalty then you're wrong, and I don't care what you do to me because I've been assigned to protect you and help you find your friends, so I'm ready for a fight at any time." Kuzon frowned at him, his eyes glinting slightly as Rima came over with some food.

"Sora, legs, move." She told him. He gave an effort filled sigh before moving them, Kuzon smirked. Rima proceeded to put the food down on the table after he had moved his legs and took a seat next to Sora, then smiled warmly at Tia and Kuzon,

"Dig in, you guys must be starving," She said to them pushing two bowls of food and a couple of pairs of chopsticks towards them. Both Tia and Kuzon thanked her graciously then dug in, as her and Sora stuck into their own food.

"So..." Sora began with a mouthful of food, spraying half of it across the table as he spoke. Tia looked rather revolted as she brushed some half chewed food off of her lap. Kuzon watched frowning at him,

"Do you actually have any manners at all, or have you always been as disgustingly behaved as an untrained hog monkey?" He asked. Sora glared at him from across the table and opened his still full mouth to reply; before Rima glanced at him sternly making him immediately shut it again.

"Sorry," She said to them apologetically,

"He has absolutely no idea how to act around royalty," She smiled slightly at them, embarrassed by Sora's lack of etiquette.

"Clearly." Kuzon muttered under his breath, causing Tia to stifle a giggle as she heard it. Sora swallowed his mouthful then carried on from where he left of before,

"Are you both able to fight, or will Rima and I have to have all the fun if we bump into some more of those creeps?" Kuzon looked at him, his liquid gold eyes staring at Sora's dull brown ones, his eyes glinting dangerously as he smirked,

"Want to find out?" He retorted coolly. Tia turned her head to face Kuzon,

"D'you really think now is the best time? We need to find the others so that they know that we're safe," She said reaching her hand to his and taking it in hers gently. Kuzon sighed keeping hold of her hand and squeezing it gently,

"I guess you're right."

Sora huffed.

"Great, there goes my chance for a bit of fun, and maybe being able to pummel princey a little," He smirked at Kuzon who gave him a deadly glare in response. Tia squeezed his hand a little tighter, then turned to Sora, just as Rima smacked him one round the back of the head.

"Not to call your fighting bad or anything, but I think if you did fight it would be Kuzon who would be doing the pummelling," She smiled innocently, then delicately placed her chopsticks on the top of her empty bowl with her free hand. Sora just huffed and glared at Rima for hitting him, she just smiled in response,

"I think you'll be having plenty of fun now," She said to him, rising from her seat, her hand gripping the handle of her katana. Sora looked up at her confused, then out the corner of his eye he saw five Dai-Li and six Yu-yan behind Tia and Kuzon, advancing on them fast. He grinned then got up,

"Don't worry your highnesses we'll protect you, and show you how the professionals deal with things," He laughed pulling his katana out of its sheath and jumping onto the table before proceeding to jump over the heads of Tia and Kuzon, landing a front flip perfectly just to show off. Rima sighed then followed him.

Tia grinned, she had known that they had been there just before Rima had stood up, and with a twist of her ankle and a small stomp from her heel, each one of the men were encased in earth. Both Rima and Sora stopped where they were to look at the young princess as she turned round in her seat, an angelic smile gracing her lips. But the smile wasn't there for long, and it quickly turned into an all but happy frown, as the earth around the men began to crack, before shattering, sending hundreds of jagged shards of rock hurtling towards them.

Tia quickly stood up, just as Kuzon instinctively moved in front of her to protect her. She sighed but gave a small smile as she raised her hand stopping the shards in mid-air just before they hit Rima and Sora. She moved to the side so that she could see in front of Kuzon, keeping her hand and the shards in place, then with a flick of her wrist, the shards turned so that the points were facing the men, that was until two of the Yu-yan shot arrows towards Tia, catching parts of the sleeves of her tattered robe, the force knocking her backwards, and pinning her to the table they had been sat at, and causing the shards to fall to the ground.

In the split second that this had happened, Sora had taken advantage of the situation and had managed to climb onto the roof of one of the nearby houses, using whatever he could find to help him get up there. Meanwhile Rima had run straight at them, dodging most of what was fired at her, and using her katana to deflect the rest.

Kuzon watched trying to think of a strategy, whilst the men were distracted, before he got a hard kick in his backside, causing him to stumble forward a little,

"Hey! Daydreamer! Mind helping?" Tia called, blowing stray strands of hair out of the way of her eyes, as a gentle gust of wind blew them across her face. Kuzon spun round, as Tia struggled to try and get her arms free. He blinked a few times confused for a moment then shook his head and pulled the arrows out of the table and her tattered sleeves, before throwing them on the ground and helping her to her feet.

She automatically focused her gaze on the brawl in front of her, as Kuzon looked her over quickly to make sure she was alright. When he was satisfied he too turned to watch what was happening. Tia focused on Rima as she drew closer to the men, whilst Kuzon focused his gaze on Sora as he ran across the rooftops, before jumping down to land next to Rima as she reached the men, swinging his katana down onto one of the men as he landed, all the while with a grin on his face.

"Think they need help?" Kuzon muttered under his breath, but loud enough for Tia to hear him. Tia just shook her head,

"Nah I think they're good, besides Sora seems to be enjoying himself." They both looked at him as he effortlessly took out three more, smirking.

"That all you got boys? I'm disappointed," He grinned cockily as he casually stepped to the side to dodge an arrow that had been fired at him before giving a sarcastic yawn. Rima on the other hand was a lot more graceful than Sora was in her movements, as she fluidly dodged attacks, and nimbly moved out of the way of arrows that were aimed at her, even when she took out two of the Dai-Li, slashing both of them deeply across their chests in a single blow.

Whilst Rima and Sora were busy fighting them, and Kuzon and Tia had been distracted by them, watching closely just in case they needed to interject themselves at any point, two of the Yu-Yan had quickly run into a nearby street, taking a narrow passage which led them to be behind Tia and Kuzon. As soon as they arrived out the passage and had a good clear view of the two young royals, one of them shot two arrows hitting Tia in the backs of her legs. She let out an ear-splitting scream and collapsed in a heap on the floor. Kuzon quickly turned and ducked out of the way of the arrows that had been aimed at him, before swinging his arm in front of him sending poison covered darts hurtling towards them, which had been hidden in a protective little sheath specially made for them, up his sleeve.

The Yu-Yan didn't have time to react to kuzon's quick reactions, and had no time to dodge the darts before they were both hit dead on in the forehead. The poison immediately took effect and spread throughout their bodies, travelling through the blood in their veins. When it reached their hearts they gurgled and in literally a matter of seconds, they were nothing more than bodies collapsed in heaps on the ground. Kuzon glared at their bodies cursing under his breath then quickly turned his attention to Tia, who lay on the ground crying in agony, fresh blood staining her tattered robes and the ground beneath her.

Sora and Rima took care of the rest of the men quickly after they had heard the blood curdling scream from Tia, before running back to join them, sheathing their bloodied katana's on the way. Kuzon fell on his knees next to Tia and very gently, he carefully lifted Tia's dress out of the way to see the damage.

"GET THEM OUT!" Tia screamed through her sobs, as she moved to pull them out, before Sora crouched down next to her and held her wrists with ease to stop her.

"If you pull them out, you'll only make the damage that they have inflicted worse than it already is," He told her softly.

"We have to find Katara and the others, Katara will be able to help her," Kuzon stated as he looked up at Rima his face a mask of hatred, but she could see sadness and fear dancing in his now hardened golden eyes. Rima nodded then looked down at Sora,

"Can you manage?" She asked him. He huffed at the fact of her doubting his abilities,

"Of course I can," He replied then looked at Tia, her face contorted with pain, her eyes half shut and her cheeks drenched with salty tears,

"I'm gonna let go of your wrists so I can carry you okay? So promise me you won't try pulling them out?" He asked her. Tia nodded noting that all hints of sarcasm that was usually clear in his voice had gone; now it was only filled with concern and the tone of his voice was gentle. He carefully let his grip on her wrists go, then moved his arms under her body, one supporting her back the other behind knees, and lifted her up with ease, trying not to jolt her so much. She was incredibly light. Then he looked to Kuzon,

"Hey, I have a couple of strips of bandages I carry with me for emergencies, would you get them out for me? They're in my pocket." He asked as politely as he could manage. Kuzon did what he was asked, moving carefully so he wouldn't knock Tia and cause her any more pain.

"Good, now tie each strip tightly around her lags, above the arrows so it'll help stop the flow of blood." Kuzon nodded and did as Sora said, wincing when he accidently knocked one of the arrows in her leg, causing Tia to scream and struggle in Sora's arms, but his arms were like iron bars and they held her easily in place. Once Kuzon had finished Sora quickly set off running behind Rima, with Kuzon following behind, running through the city once more to look for their friends.

Iroh

Iroh opened his eyes and put his hand to his head. He grumbled to himself before taking in his surroundings. He jumped when the palace shook after another boulder was launched at it,

"What the..." He looked to the front of his cell, and realised the door had been left a little ajar. After managing to slowly get to his feet, he stretched. He had no idea how long he had been out for, but he was thankful that the drugs Azula had ordered him to be given had worn off.

He walked to the front of the cell and pushed the door open with a squeak, then he looked around again. He noticed the unconscious prison guard in one of the other cells, and then the red stretcher that had been left on the floor. He furrowed his eyebrows as this stretcher was only used to carry dead people, but he saw no body, in fact the only other person in here was the prison guard, and Iroh was positively certain that he was alive. What the hell was going on?

He jumped when the palace shook again as another boulder had been hurled at it. He took a couple of steps out of the cell towards the stretcher, then realised that there were small pools of partially dried blood around it. He frowned again. Whoever had been on this stretcher had been badly injured, and had been moved.

Iroh though it best not to dwell on this subject especially since he couldn't get his head around it at the moment, and decided that it would be best to focus on getting out of the prison, and find out what was going on. The only fact that he knew for certain was true was that Azula had something to do with it. His power crazed niece. He shook his head not wanting to think any more of the monstrous woman, and then headed up the prison stairs to find out what was happening.

Azula and Lin

Lin hadn't taken her eyes off Sokka's lifeless body, as she and Azula sat in silence together. She had no idea of how much time had actually passed after the two guards had dragged him in and dumped him on the floor. Azula sat drumming her fingers on the arm of the throne, her extremely long sharpened nails were the only noise that could be heard as they repeatedly hit the cold metal.

Both of their heads immediately snapped up as the doors opened. Lin sat frozen in her place. Was there going to be another body? Or was it just going to be some more news of what was happening?

She fixed her eyes on the two small figures at the other end of the room as they drew nearer. Her stomach churned as they got closer and she managed to make out a third figure that they were dragging behind them.

Another body.

She looked down, she didn't want to know who it was. She carefully shifted her eyes to the side so she could see Azula. She was grinning. Lin looked back down, wishing that she wasn't sat in the same room next to this monster. The two guards finally came to a stop and dropped the body on the floor next to Sokka's. Azula sighed in disappointment.

"And here I was thinking that you might've actually bought me the Avatar's body.

The guards remained silent as Azula looked over the body that was on the floor beneath her.

"And where did you find this piece of trash?" She questioned them,

"She was abandoned like the male in one of the corridors," One of the guards replied. Lin sat barely breathing. 'She', It was a woman, or girl. She prayed that it wasn't one of the children that had lost their life. There was a pause of silence, before Azula waved her hand, motioning for the guards to go. They bowed and left.

Lin shifted her eyes back to Azula who was still staring at the body, then she slowly moved her eyes to look at who it was. She froze. Her eyes fixed on the pale bloodstained face of her mother. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't get up and run to her,  
A) Because she was frozen in shock, horror and sadness, and  
B) She couldn't give her cover away.

Lin tore her gaze away from her mother's sheet white face, and stared at the wall at the other end of the room, keeping her expression as blank as she could possibly manage, holding back the tears that she felt coming on.

Azula turned her head to look at Lin. She scrutinized her for a moment but Lin remained the same. Azula watched her for a moment longer, then turned her head back to look at Ty Lee and smirked. Lin stood from where she was sat.

"What are you doing?" Azula questioned her, not taking her gaze away from Ty Lee,

"I just need to use the bathroom if that's alright," She paused before forcing herself to say the word "Mother." Azula turned to look at her again before calling in the guards that were stood outside the doors to the end of the room. They hurried through them and bowed before her,

"Take Lin to the bathroom, we don't want anything happening to you now do we?" She said to Lin rhetorically, with a smirk. Lin just bowed, then walked out with the guards following behind her.

As soon as she was in the bathroom, she locked the door and broke down into tears. She wanted her dad. She wanted him to hug and comfort her, ad tell her that everything was going to be alright. But it wasn't. Her mother was dead and it was Azula's fault. The woman that brainwashed her, the one who tore families apart. The woman who killed Kaiya, and the woman that grinned at seeing the dead face of her mother and called her a 'piece of trash'. She loathed her.

Lin hadn't realised that whilst she was thinking of these things, her hands had heated up due to the amount of hatred and rage that she felt, and she had accidently scorched handprints into the floor of the bathroom she had slumped onto. She jumped when there was a knock on the door.

"Is everything alright you're highness?" One of the guards called. How she wanted to scream back at him that it wasn't, how she wanted to tell him her mother was dead and they had dumped her body on the floor in front of her. She dried her eyes with a nearby towel and cleared her throat,

"Everything's fine," She answered him monotone, standing from where she sat. She brushed herself off and went to check herself in the full-length mirror situated on the other side of the bathroom. She stood in front of it for a while, trying to neaten out her clothes, and sort out her face so that it didn't look like she had been crying, then another knock sounded at the door,

"Princess, you've been in there for quite a while, are you sure you're okay?" The same guard asked, Lin could tell by the tone of his voice. She sighed before taking a deep breath, before walking back to the door, unlocking and opening it before stepping out.

"I told you everything was fine, can a girl not make herself look a little ore presentable?" She questioned, looking at both the guards, who shuffled a little uncomfortably where they stood.

"Sorry your highness, we were just worried something may have happened," One of them apologised. She sighed then proceeded to lead the way back through the corridors before she froze as Aang sprinted round the corner at the end of the corridor they were stood in. She was immediately pushed behind the two guards that were with her, as Aang came to a stop in front of them. They got into their stances but just before they were about to strike, Lin gave them both a quick couple of jabs in their backs, and they fell limp to the floor completely paralyzed and unable to speak, one of the things her mother had taught her.

Aang looked at her. He saw straight through the false mask that she had on her face, and he could tell that she was completely and utterly distraught.

"What is it Lin?" He asked her softly, moving to stand directly in front of her. Lin just shook her head as fresh tears started to trickle uncontrollably down her rosy cheeks, then without warning she literally threw herself at Aang, soaking his tattered robes with her tears as he gently wrapped his arms around her, all the while keeping an eye out just in case any enemies popped up. Lin managed to stop crying not long after, drying her eyes with the back of her sleeve and stepping away from Aang.

"I have to get back, I've been gone for a while and she'll be wondering where I am," She told him, her voice cracking a little.

"Wait Lin, tell me what's happened that's upset you so much," He looked her, his grey eyes full of concern as he watched her, as she tried her best to hold back some more tears that began to well up in her eyes.

"My..." She began to say before her voice cracked again. She took in a deep shaky breath, holding back her tears as best she could, before speaking again.

"My mum's dead." Her voice was barely a whisper, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks again. She didn't make a noise; she just stood silently crying as she looked into Aang's eyes. Aang had known Ty Lee was dead since he had been there, but he had no idea how she knew.

"That's not all," She began again, as Aang tried to comprehend the situation,

"Sokka ... He's also been killed," She finished, her voice not having grown any louder than before. Aang just stared at her blankly trying to swallow the sudden lump that was caught in his throat. Two of his most dearest friends, who had helped him through thick and thin, facing all the hardships in his life, particularly Sokka, were dead. No it couldn't be. Lin watched Aang as his hands balled up into fists and started to shake, he blinked a couple of tears from obscuring his vision, and she watched them roll harmlessly down his cheeks. She watched as his eyes and tattoo's flashed the blinding white that she had seen before, then she gently took his hand in hers. He looked down at her, his face full of hurt and sadness, much like hers, as his eyes and tattoo's faded back to normal.

"Azula will kill you if you enter the Avatar state when you face her, that's what she's planning," She told him.

"Don't worry about me," He said to her, still looking down at her,

"Now I want you to leave here and go and find the others in the city," He told her, gently giving her hand a squeeze. She shook her head.

"I'm staying with you to face her. I'm not interested in hearing you tell me that it's too dangerous or how many times you're going to tell me to leave, I'm not going to listen. This woman has torn my life apart, messed with my head, made me witness things I will never forget, things that will haunt me for the rest of my life, and all I want is to see her dead." Lin told him her voice monotone again, her tears stopped. She stared up at Aang her golden eyes burning deep into his grey ones.

"You're going to need all the help you can get, she has the imperial guards, Dai-Li and Yu-yan, hidden all throughout the room, and she has the bodies of Sokka and my mother on the floor by her feet as bait to get you into the Avatar state, but, I have an idea." Aang nodded taking in the information. He was completely against having her come with him, but he knew that no matter how hard he tried, she was far too stubborn to listen to reason, and he didn't have the time to take her out into the city and risk getting them into a heck of a lot more fights. So he proceeded to listen to her plan, adding in some bits of his own, mainly ones that would keep her out of harm's way, all the while keeping an eye out for more enemies.

Once they were both certain on what was going to happen, and they both knew exactly what the plan was, Lin started to lead Aang through the corridors to where Azula was, ready for the final deciding battle.

* * *

**_Hi readers! D: Sorry for the ridiculously long amount of time it's taken me tp upload this chapter, i haven't had a lot of time to be writing it, I've had so much going on!  
Anyway hope you enjoy this chapter, and i apologise in advance if my next chapter is a while to update, v.v  
Thanks to all of you who support me and this story, it means a lot! ^^  
And just to let you know i haven't given up on either of the stories that i am currently writing~~_**


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